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GREAT 


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149 
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1918b 


.  GEORGE  H.  DORAN  COMPANY,  Publishers ,  New  York 


DS  149  . G7  1918b 

Great  Britain,  Palestine  anc 
the  Jews 


* 


GREAT  BRITAIN,  PALESTINE  AND  THE  JEWS 


V/' 

Great  Britain, 
Palestine  and  the  Jews 


Jewry’s  Celebration  of 


NEW  YORK 

GEORGE  H.  DORAN  COMPANY 


COPYRIGHT,  1918, 

BY  GEORGE  H.  DORAN  COMPANY 


PRINTED  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA 


PREFACE 


The  Declaration  by  the  British  Government  in 
favour  of  the  establishment  in  Palestine  of  a 
National  Home  for  the  Jewish  people  constitutes  the 
greatest  event  in  the  history  of  the  Jews  since  their 
dispersion.  The  manner  in  which  this  Declaration 
has  been  received  and  celebrated  in  Jewish  communi¬ 
ties  both  here  and  abroad  has  been  marked  by  bound¬ 
less  enthusiasm  and  overflowing  gratitude. 

But  for  the  fact  that  the  world  is  still  groaning 
under  the  scourge  of  war  the  rejoicings  by  the  Jew¬ 
ish  people  would  doubtless  have  assumed  a  much 
more  imposing  and  jubilant  character.  But  the 
record  presented  in  this  publication  shows  that  the 
House  of  Israel  is  fully  conscious  of  the  high  signifi¬ 
cance  of  the  pledge  of  the  British  Government  con¬ 
cerning  its  restoration. 

This  pamphlet  is  intended  to  give  a  brief  and  com¬ 
prehensive  survey  of  the  various  forms  of  celebra¬ 
tion  in  Jewry  in  honour  of  the  promulgation  of  the 
British  Charter  of  Zionism.  It  is  inevitably  con¬ 
fined  to  the  events  and  utterances  of  the  first  few 
weeks  following  the  publication  of  Mr.  Balfour’s 


Vi 


Preface 


historic  letter,  ana  cannot  therefore  include  an  ade¬ 
quate  account  of  the  celebrations  in  other  lands. 
But  it  is  worthy  of  note  that  in  addition  to  the 
countless  secular  celebrations,  the  synagogues  also 
took  cognisance  of  the  Government  declaration. 

Although  a  political  document,  Mr.  Balfour’s 
letter  proclaims  the  forthcoming  fulfilment  of  what 
has  always  been  a  religious  ideal  in  Jewry;  and  it 
was  therefore  but  right  that  the  letter  should  have 
been  read  in  numerous  synagogues  during  the  Sab¬ 
bath  service  and  formed  the  text  of  countless  ser¬ 


mons. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Resolutions,  Statements,  and  Messages  op 
Zionist  Organisations . 11 

Resolutions  of  Other  Jewish  Organisations  23 

Views  of  Jewish  Leaders . 29 

Public  Demonstrations . 37 

Press  Comment  89 


v8 


RESOLUTIONS,  STATEMENTS  AND  MESSAGES 
OF  ZIONIST  ORGANISATIONS 


THE  CHARTER  OF  ZIONISM 


LETTER  FROM  THE  BRITISH  GOVERNMENT 

The  following  are  the  terms  of  the  letter  to  Lord 
Rothschild  in  which  Mr.  A.  J.  Balfour,  Secretary  of 
State  for  Foreign  Affairs,  declared  the  sympathy  of  the 
British  Government  with  Zionist  aspirations  and  its  fa¬ 
vourable  attitude  towards  the  establishment  in  Palestine  of 
a  national  home  for  the  Jewish  people: 

Foreign  Office, 

November  2,  1917. 

Dear  Lord  Rothschild, — I  have  much  pleasure  in 
conveying  to  you  on  behalf  of  His  Majesty’s  Govern¬ 
ment  the  following  Declaration  of  sympathy  with  Jew¬ 
ish  Zionist  aspirations,  which  has  been  submitted  to 
and  approved  by  the  Cabinet: 

“  His  Majesty’s  Government  view  with  favour  the 
establishment  in  Palestine  of  a  national  home  for  the 
Jewish  people,  and  will  use  their  best  endeavours  to 
facilitate  the  achievement  of  this  object,  it  being  clearly 
understood  that  nothing  shall  be  done  which  may  preju¬ 
dice  the  civil  and  religious  rights  of  existing  non- Jewish 
communities  in  Palestine  or  the  rights  and  political  status 
enjoyed  by  Jews  in  any  other  country.” 

I  should  be  grateful  if  you  would  bring  this  Declara¬ 
tion  to  the  knowledge  of  the  Zionist  Federation. 

Yours  sincerely, 

(Signed)  ARTHUR  JAMES  BALFOUR 


GREAT  BRITAIN,  PALESTINE 
AND  THE  JEWS 


RESOLUTIONS,  STATEMENTS  AND  MESSAGES 
OF  ZIONIST  ORGANISATIONS 

ENGLISH  ZIONIST  FEDERATION 

The  Pronouncement  of  the  British  Government 
was  received  with  enthusiasm  and  expressions  of  pro¬ 
found  gratitude  by  Zionist  Organisations  in  all  the 
principal  Jewish  centres  of  the  world.  The  English 
Zionist  Federation  held  a  special  meeting  three  days 
after  the  date  of  Mr.  Balfour’s  letter,  and  unani¬ 
mously  adopted  the  following  resolution : 

“Resolved  that  the  Executive  Council  of  the 
English  Zionist  Federation  has  received  with  heart¬ 
felt  joy  and  thanks  the  report  of  Dr.  Weizmann, 
the  President,  on  the  issue  of  a  Declaration  by  Llis 
Majesty’s  Government  in  support  of  the  establish¬ 
ment  in  Palestine  of  a  national  home  for  the  Jewish 
people,  and  that  it  sincerely  congratulates  the  Presi¬ 
dent  on  having,  in  conjunction  with  Mr.  Sokolow, 
brought  about  this  most  momentous  achievement 
towards  the  realisation  of  the  national  aspirations 
of  the  Jewish  people. 


11 


12  Great  Britain,  Palestine  and  the  Jews 

“Further,  that  the  Executive  Council  begs  the 
hon.  officers  to  convey  to  His  Majesty’s  Govern¬ 
ment,  on  behalf  of  the  English  Zionist  Federation, 
an  expression  of  the  respectful  and  -profound  senti¬ 
ments  of  gratitude  evoked  among  English  Zionists 
by  this  historic  act  in  the  national  liberation  of 
the  Jewish  people,  which  will  for  ever  shed  lustre 
on  the  proud  traditions  of  British  statesmanship, 
justice,  and  libertv.” 

THE  UNITED  STATES 

The  gratitude  felt  by  the  British  Zionists  was 
equalled  by  that  felt  and  expressed  by  their  col¬ 
leagues  in  the  United  States.  The  Provisional  Zion¬ 
ist  Committee  of  New  York  described  the  Declara¬ 
tion  of  the  British  Government  as  marking  an  epoch 
in  Jewish  history.  “The  wise  and  magnanimous 
purpose  of  His  Majesty’s  Government  to  use  its 
best  endeavours  to  facilitate  the  achievement  of  the 
Zionist  aim  is  in  consonance  with  the  policy  of  the 
British  nation  respecting  the  Jews.  It  is  in  con¬ 
sonance  with  the  policy  of  the  liberation  and  pro¬ 
tection  of  small  nationalities,  which  the  Entente 
Powers,  including  our  own  Government,  have  deter¬ 
mined  shall  prevail  throughout  the  world.” 

At  a  Zionist  Conference,  held  in  Baltimore,  the 
following  resolution  was  carried  unanimously: 

“This  conference,  convened  by  the  Provisional 
Executive  Committee  for  General  Zionist  Affairs,  do 


Hussia 


13 


offer  Dr.  Chaim  Weizmann  and  Mr.  Nahum  Sokolow 
its  deep-felt  congratulations  on  the  part  they  have 
had  in  these  negotiations  with  the  British  Govern¬ 
ment,  which  resulted  in  the  British  Declaration  fa¬ 
vouring  re-establishment  in  Palestine  of  a  national 
home  for  the  Jewish  people,  made  by  the  Bight  Hon. 
Arthur  J.  Balfour  on  behalf  of  the  British  Cabinet. 
We  ask  our  associates  in  London  to  convey  to  His 
Majesty’s  Government  expressions  of  gratitude  from 
the  Jewish  people  for  the  Declaration,  which  is  in 
consonance  with  the  traditions  of  the  British  peo¬ 
ple  and  in  keeping  with  the  aims  of  Great  Britain 
and  her  Allies  in  this  war  for  liberation  and  justice. 
Deeply  we  rejoice  in  the  triumph  of  British  arms  in 
Palestine,  and  the  taking  over  of  Palestine  as  an¬ 
other  step  in  the  march  of  the  Allied  Forces  which 
is  to  establish  throughout  the  world  the  principles 
of  the  invincible  integrity  of  smaller  nationalities. 
For  these  principles  we  and  our  Allies  are  prepared 
to  make  every  sacrifice  of  treasure  and  life,  until 
the  great  war  shall  have  ended  in  the  triumph  of 
the  high  aims  of  the  Allied  nations.” 


RUSSIA, 

The  Central  Committee  of  the  Zionist  Organisation 
of  Bussia  expressed  the  heartiest  feelings  and  thanks 
of  the  Bussian  Zionists  for  the  inspiring  Declaration 
of  His  Majesty’s  Government  “in  favour  of  the 
establishment  in  Palestine  of  a  national  home  for 
the  Jewish  people.” 

“No  more  happy  tidings  could  reach  Bussian 


14  Great  Britain,  Palestine  and  the  Jews 

Jewry  than  this  timely  expression  by  the  British 
Government  of  its  attitude  towards  Palestine,  and 
we  cannot  sufficiently  express  the  importance  which 
we  attach  thereto.  We  regard  this  noble  act  as  a 
landmark  in  Jewish  history.  .  .  . 

We  find  ourselves  particularly  fortunate  that  at 
this  momentous  time  in  the  world’s  history  the  inter¬ 
ests  of  the  British  people  and  those  of  the  Jewish 
nation  should  be  identical.  We  also  fervently  hope 
and  desire  that  the  re-establishment  of  a  Jewish  home 
situated  at  the  gateway  of  three  continents  and  com¬ 
manding  the  world’s  chief  arteries  of  communication 
will  greatly  facilitate  the  maintenance  of  interna¬ 
tional  peace,  and  will  serve  the  cultural  ideals  of  man¬ 
kind. 

His  Majesty’s  Government,  in  its  noble  and  al¬ 
truistic  declaration,  makes  mention  that  in  the  estab¬ 
lishment  of  a  Jewish  nation  in  Palestine  the  civil 
and  religious  rights  of  existing  non-Jewish  com¬ 
munities  shall  not  be  prejudiced.  We  Jews  who  have 
suffered  injustice  for  so  many  hundreds  of  years 
will  never  be  able  to  impose  any  form  of  inequality 
on  peoples  living  in  Palestine.  Furthermore,  the 
spirit  of  our  traditions  and  teachings  forces  us  to 
recognise  the  complete  equality  of  all  mankind. 

In  the  annals  of  Jewish  history  the  sympathy 
and  assistance  rendered  by  the  British  Government 
in  the  regeneration  of  the  Jewish  nation  can  never 


France 


15 


be  eradicated.  In  her  great  beneficence  the  British 
Government  offered  us  Jews  El-Arish  in  1902.  Then 
again  she  showed  us  her  concrete  desire  to  assist 
Jewish  nationalism  by  her  Uganda  offer  in  1903. 
As  the  highest  evidence  of  the  benevolence  of  His 
Majesty’s  Government  we  see  that  at  this  very 
moment,  when  her  armies  are  triumphing  in  Palestine, 
she  is  not  only  offering  this  assistance  towards  the 
re-establishment  of  a  Jewish  home,  but  at  the  same 
time  she  is  pledging  her  great  political  influence  in 
this  worthy  undertaking. 

In  the  realisation  of  one  of  the  greatest  problems 
of  the  world — namely,  the  complete  liberation  of  the 
most  oppressed  nation  of  all  times — the  British  Gov¬ 
ernment  will  give  certain  evidence  to  posterity  that 
the  many  sacrifices  she  has  made  in  this  disastrous 
struggle  were  not  made  in  vain,  but  were  made  for 
the  greater  enlightenment  of  the  world,” 

FRANCE 

The  Federation  Sioniste  de  France  sent  the  British 
Government  a  message  of  congratulation  on  the  oc¬ 
cupation  of  Jerusalem.  They  associated  with  that 
historic  event  the  equally  historic  Declaration  of  the 
British  Government  in  favour  of  a  national  home  for 
the  Jewish  people  in  Palestine,  and  welcomed  the 
advent  of  the  promised  day  when  the  ancient  people 
of  the  Book  would,  with  the  help  of  the  glorious 


16  Great  Britain,  Palestine  and  the  Jews 

Allies,  restore  their  ancient  home  on  the  beloved  soil 
of  their  ancestors. 

HOLLAND 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Netherlands  Zionist  Federa¬ 
tion  there  was  repeated  applause  at  a  reference  to 
Mr.  Balfour’s  statement  of  accord  with  Zionist  aims 
which,  said  the  President,  had  given  great  joy  to 
almost  the  whole  of  Jewry.  Mr.  Jean  Fischer  said 
that  the  Declaration  of  the  British  Government  re¬ 
garding  Zionism  was  an  historical  fact  of  far-reach¬ 
ing  significance.  The  British  Government  had  earned 
the  everlasting  gratitude  of  the  Jewish  people.  It 
was  resolved  to  send  the  following  telegram  to  the 
English  Zionist  Federation :  “The  eighteenth  General 
Convention  of  the  Netherlands  Zionist  Federation 
expresses  its  gratitude  to  the  British  Government  for 
its  sympathetic  attitude  towards  Zionism,  and  for  its 
Declaration  that  it  will  do  its  best  to  contribute  to 
the  fulfilment  of  the  Zionist  programme. — Lieme, 
President;  Van  Vriesland,  Secretary.” 

GERMANY 

A  German  Zionist  Conference,  held  in  Berlin, 
adopted  the  following  resolution: 

“The  German  Zionist  Association  greets  with  satis¬ 
faction  the  fact  that  the  British  Government  has 
recognised  in  an  official  Declaration  the  right  of  the 
Jewish  people  to  a  national  existence  in  Palestine.” 


Switzerland 


A  large  number  of  other  messages  were  received 
by  the  London  Zionist  Bureau  from  Zionist  Organi¬ 
sations  in  all  parts  of  the  world. 

CANADA 

The  Canadian  Zionist  Federation  cabled:  “Cordial 
greetings  from  Canadian  Zionists.  Overwhelming 
majority  Canadian  Jews  hail  with  utmost  enthusiasm 
and  gratitude  Declaration  British  Government  re¬ 
garding  Palestine  and  Jewish  people.  This  Declara¬ 
tion  is  one  of  the  most  momentous  in  Jewish  history. 
What  Britain  promises  she  will  fulfil.  The  undying 
hopes  for  which  Jews  suffered  martyrdom  for 
twentj  centuries  will  now  be  realised  and  Israel  re¬ 
born.  It  means  full  accomplishment  of  Basle  pro¬ 
gramme.” 

SWITZERLAND 

From  the  Union  of  Swiss  Zionists  came:  “The 
Swiss  Zionist  Federation  having  taken  note,  with 
the  greatest  satisfaction,  of  the  Declaration  of  His 
Britannic  Majesty’s  Government  concerning  the 
establishment  in  Palestine  of  a  national  home  for 
the  Jewish  people,  heartily  congratulates  you  on  the 
great  success.  The  Declaration  of  Mr.  Balfour 
coincides  with  our  Zionist  aims.  We  hope  that  all 
the  nations  of  the  world  will  support  these  aims  and 
thereby  in  a  like  manner  assure  themselves  of  the 
deep  gratitude  of  the  Jewish  people.” 


18  Great  Britain,  Palestine  and  the  Jews 


BELGIUM 

The  Belgian  Zionist  Federation,  temporarily 
domiciled  in  the  Hague,  welcomed  with  enthusiasm 
“the  important  Declaration  of  His  Britannic 
Majesty’s  Government  to  the  Jewish  people.  It  is 
deeply  grateful  to  the  magnanimity  of  His  Britannic 
Majesty’s  Government  for  recognising  the  legiti¬ 
mate  national  aspirations  of  the  Jewish  people  to 
Palestine  and  heartily  congratulates  you  on  the 
triumph  which  crowns  the  Zionist  effort.” 

SCANDINAVIA 

The  Norwegian  Zionist  Federation’s  message  ran: 

“Though  small,  Norway’s  Zionistic  Jewry  joins 
gladly  the  elder  Zionist  Associations  the  world  over 
in  congratulating  you  heartily  on  great  success  as 
recorded  by  Mr.  Balfour’s  Declaration  of  willingness 
of  British  Government  to  fully  endorse  and  assist 
realisation  our  Palestine  hopes.  We  record  joyfully 
this  essential  step  forward,  doubly  welcome  in  times 
of  tribulation,  and  trust  in  further  crowning  with 
success  of  all  your  endeavours.” 

At  Stockholm  the  Scandinavian  Zionist  Associa¬ 
tion  held  a  crowded  meeting  at  which  an  expres¬ 
sion  of  lively  satisfaction  was  passed  at  the  recent 
Declaration  of  His  Majesty’s  Government  regarding 
the  future  Jewish  settlement  in  Palestine.  A  resolu- 


Salonica 


19 


tion  was  passed  unanimously  welcoming  the  action  of 
His  Majesty’s  Government  and  binding  all  present 
to  use  every  effort  to  secure  a  national  future  for  the 
Jewish  people. 


SALONICA 

The  Committee  of  the  Jewish  Congress  in  Salonica 
sent  a  message  to  the  following  effect: 

“Le  Comite  du  Congres  juif  de  Salonique  a  re9u 
avec  une  joie  indicible  communication  de  la  declara¬ 
tion  faite  par  le  gouvernement  de  Sa  Majeste  Bri- 
tannique  relativement  a  la  reconstitution  de  la 
nationality  juive  en  Palestine ;  son  emotion  est  grande 
de  voir  les  aspirations  nationales  du  peuple  juif  re- 
cevoir  une  consecration  aussi  eclatante  qui  lui  est 
donnee  aujourd’hui  par  la  grande  et  liberale  nation 
anglaise.  Les  Israelites  de  Salonique  communiant 
avec  le  judaisme  universel  expriment  au  gouverne¬ 
ment  de  Sa  Majeste  Britannique  leur  profonde  recon¬ 
naissance  et  forment  des  voeux  chaleureux  pour  le 
triomphe  final  du  droit,  de  la  justice  et  du  principe 
des  nationalites  si  vaillamment  defendus  par  l’Angle- 
terre  et  ses  Allies.” 


RESOLUTIONS  OF  OTHER  JEWISH 
ORGANISATIONS 


RESOLUTIONS  OF  OTHER  JEWISH 
ORGANISATIONS 


JEWISH  TERRITORIAL  ORGANISATION 

At  a  meeting  of  the  British  Headquarters’  Coun¬ 
cil  of  the  Jewish  Territorial  Organisation  it  was 
unanimously  resolved  to  welcome  the  statement  of 
the  Government  expressing  sympathy  with  Jewish 
aspirations,  and  the  Jewish  Territorial  Organisa¬ 
tion,  “founded  to  procure  a  territory  upon  an  au¬ 
tonomous  basis  for  those  Jews  who  cannot,  or  will 
not,  remain  in  the  lands  in  which  they  at  present 
live,”  declared  its  readiness  to  co-operate  with  the 
Zionists  in  devising  a  scheme  for  the  development  of 
Palestine  in  accordance  with  its  programme. 

JEWISH  BOARD  OF  DEPUTIES 

A  meeting  of  the  Jewish  Board  of  Deputies 
adopted  the  following  resolution: 

“That  this  Board  desires  to  convey  its  grateful 
thanks  to  His  Majesty’s  Government  for  its  sym¬ 
pathetic  interest  in  the  Jews  as  manifested  by  the 
letter  addressed  to  Lord  Rothschild  by  the  Right 
Hon.  Arthur  J.  Balfour,  dated  November  2,  1917, 
which  has  been  published  in  the  Press.” 

23 


24  Great  Britain,  Palestine  and  the  Jews 


ANGLO-JEWISH  ASSOCIATION 

At  a  special  meeting  of  the  Council  of  the  Anglo- 
Jewish  Association  it  was  resolved: 

“That  the  Council  of  the  Anglo-Jewish  Associa¬ 
tion  desires  to  convey  its  grateful  thanks  to  His 
Majesty’s  Government  for  its  sympathetic  interest 
in  the  Jews,  as  manifested  by  the  letter  of  the  Right 
Hon.  Arthur  J.  Balfour,  dated  November  2,  1917, 
addressed  to  Lord  Rothschild,  and  published  in  the 
Press.” 

THE  ORDER  OF  B’NAI  B’RITH 

At  a  meeting  of  the  London  Lodge  of  the  Order 
the  following  resolution  was  adopted: 

“That  the  First  Lodge  of  England  of  the  Inde¬ 
pendent  Order  of  B’nai  B’rith  (Sons  of  the  Cove¬ 
nant)  conveys  to  His  Majesty’s  Government  an  ex¬ 
pression  of  heartfelt  gratitude  for  their  Declaration 
in  favour  of  the  establishment  in  Palestine  of  a 
national  home  for  the  Jewish  people,  and  assures 
His  Majesty’s  Government  that  their  historic  action 
has  been  received  with  profound  appreciation  by  all 
sections  of  the  Jewish  community  as  the  crowning 
evidence  of  the  goodwill  entertained  by  Britain 
forwards  the  Jewish  people.” 

In  addition  to  the  resolutions  adopted  by  the  fore¬ 
going  leading  organisations,  resolutions  in  a  similar 
strain  have  been  passed  by  a  very  large  number  of 
Jewish  Communal  Councils,  Congregational  Com- 


Greece 


25 


mittees,  Literary  Societies,  Friendly  Benefit  Societies, 
Trade  Unions,  etc.,  in  all  parts  of  the  United  King¬ 
dom. 

RUSSIA 

Greetings  on  the  occasion  of  the  Declaration  of 
the  British  Government  supporting  the  establish¬ 
ment  of  a  Jewish  national  home  in  Palestine  arrived 
at  Zionist  headquarters  in  Petrograd  from  all  parts 
of  the  country.  The  council  of  the  Jewish  com¬ 
munity  in  Moscow,  which  has  been  elected  for  the 
first  time  on  the  basis  of  universal  suffrage,  carried, 
at  an  extraordinary  meeting,  a  resolution  in  which 
they  regarded  it  as  their  joyful  duty  to  hail  the 
initiative  of  the  British  Government,  and  expressed 
their  firm  conviction  that  the  British  Government’s 
Declaration  would  call  forth  a  most  lively  response, 
as  well  as  the  greatest  effort  on  the  part  of  the  whole 
of  Jewry. 

GREECE 

The  publication  by  the  Press  of  Athens  of  the 
Declaration  made  by  Mr.  Balfour  aroused  the  utmost 
enthusiasm  among  the  Jews  of  Greece.  Dr.  Coffinas, 
who  is  a  member  of  the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  paid  a 
visit  to  Lord  Granville,  the  British  Minister,  to  con¬ 
vey  the  gratitude  of  his  co-religionists  to  that  nation 
whom  a  Divine  mission  had  inspired  to  deliver  the 
holy  places  from  the  yoke  of  barbarians. 


26  Great  Britain,  Palestine  and  the  Jews 

£ 

MM.  David  Florentin  and  Joseph  Usiel,  on  behalf 
of  the  Zionist  Societies  and  the  entire  Jewish  popula¬ 
tion  of  Salonika,  sent  the  following  telegram  to  Dr. 
Weizmann  and  M.  N.  Sokolow  : 

“Fortified  in  the  millenary  hope  for  the  national 
resurrection,  consequent  on  the  deliverance  of  Jeru¬ 
salem  and  the  whole  of  Southern  Palestine,  we  beg 
you  to  convex7  to  the  Government  of  His  Britannic 
Majesty  our  profound  gratitude  for  its  historic 
Declaration  concerning  the  restoration  of  our  people 
on  its  ancestral  soil,  and  our  most  ardent  wishes  for 
the  decisive  triumph  of  the  English  and  Allied  arms, 
and  the  realisation,  without  restrictions,  of  the  noble 
promises  that  the  British  Government  has  made  to 
the  Zionist  Organisation  of  which  you  are  in  England 
the  valiant  champions.” 

» 

MOROCCO 

Representative  Jewish  residents  of  Tangier  ex¬ 
pressed  on  behalf  of  the  whole  Jewish  population  of 
Morocco  their  highest  appreciation  and  heartfelt 
gratitude  for  the  action  of  the  British  Government 
in  Palestine.  The  Jews  of  Morocco,  they  said,  were 
only  lately  freed  from  the  political  and  social  dis¬ 
advantages  under  which  they  had  lived,  and  the 
promise  of  the  British  Government  awakened  new 
religious  hopes  and  aspirations  among  that  long- 
suffering  and  worthy  people. 


VIEWS  OF  JEWISH  LEADERS 


VIEWS  OF  JEWISH  LEADERS 


In  addition  to  the  views  expressed  by  Jewish 
leaders  in  the  speeches  reported  in  this  pamphlet, 
the  following  opinions  have  been  declared. 

Da.  Jechiel  Tchlenow,  Vice-President ,  Exec¬ 
utive  Committee  of  the  Zionist  Organisation. 

The  Declaration  of  His  Majesty’s  Government 
has  changed  the  aspect  of  onr  movement.  We  have 
now  the  promise  of  Great  Britain — that  traditional 
friend  of  small  nations — to  use  its  best  endeavours 
to  assist  us  in  the  establishment  of  a  National  Home 
for  the  Jewish  people  in  Palestine.  The  World’s 
History,  and  in  particular  Jewish  history,  will  in¬ 
scribe  in  its  pages  this  deed  in  letters  of  gold. 

THE  RIGHT  HON.  HERBERT  SAMUEL,  M.P., 

I  rejoice  wholeheartedly  in  the  pronouncement 
that  has  been  made  by  the  British  Government  with 
respect  to  Palestine.  I  support  the  policy  because 
it  will  furnish  to  the  genius  of  the  Jewish  race  an 
opportunity  of  again  giving  to  mankind  a  brilliant 
and  distinctive  civilisation,  and  secondly  for  the  sake 
of  the  ennobling  influence  on  the  millions  of  the 

29 


30  Great  Britain,  Palestine  and  the  Jews 


Jewish  proletariat  who  must  continue  to  remain 
scattered  throughout  the  countries  of  the  world, 
which  a  successful  Jewish  Palestine  could  not  fail  to 
exercise. 

THE  RIGHT  HON.  THE  LORD  ROTHSCHILD,  F.R.S. 

I  consider  that  the  Declaration  is  the  most  impor¬ 
tant  pronunciamento  yet  made,  as  it  is  the  first 
recognition  by  a  Great  Power  of  the  real  status  of 
the  Jewish  people,  and  that  it  ought  therefore  to  find 
a  wholehearted  support  from  ail  Jews.  I  also  con¬ 
sider  it  not  only  the  first  step  towards  restoring 
Palestine  to  its  ancient  prosperity,  but  also  the  first 
step  in  constructive  policy  necessitated  by  the  war 
and  its  inevitable  aftermath  of  necessary  changes 
and  reconstruction. 

THE  RIGHT  HON.  SIR  ALFRED  MOND,  Bart,  M.P. 

First  Commissioner  of  Works 

The  establishment  in  their  old  land,  under  th< 
aegis  of  the  British  Government,  of  a  home  when 
the  Jewish  people  will  be  at  liberty  to  develop  thei: 
national  genius  and  freely  to  exercise  their  virtue 
of  industry,  thrift,  and  organisation  in  their  owi 
way  marks  an  epoch  in  the  world’s  history.  Th 
development  in  recent  years  of  the  Jewish  colonie 
in  Palestine,  whose  success  under  the  most  unfavour 
able  and  depressing  conditions  has  been  phenomena 


Mr.  Nathan  Straus 


31 


has  always  deeply  impressed  me,  and  gives  assurance 
of  still  greater  success  in  the  future.  There  are 
some  who  seem  to  think  that  the  policy  adopted 
is  likely  to  damage  the  position  of  those  Jews — and 
there  must  be  many  millions  of  them  throughout  the 
world — who  will  remain,  as  in  the  past,  identified 
with  and  loyal  and  patriotic  citizens  of  the  coun¬ 
tries  of  their  birth  and  residence,  and  that  the  estab¬ 
lishment  of  a  national  home  in  Palestine  will,  in 
particular,  prejudice  British  Jews  in  the  eyes  of 
their  fellow-^citizens.  I  do  not  share  and  never 
have  shared  their  view.  In  my  opinion  quite  the 
reverse  will  be  the  case.  The  dignity  and  impor¬ 
tance  of  our  whole  race  will  be  enhanced  by  the 
existence  of  a  national  home  where  those  of  our 
people  who  have  been  compelled  to  live  under  less 
favourable  conditions  than  we  enjoy  will  be  able  to 
establish  themselves  on  the  soil  of  their  ancestors. 

MR.  NATHAN  STRAUS,  New  York 

My  heartfelt  congratulations  upon  the  announce¬ 
ment  of  His  Majesty’s  Government,  made  by  Mr. 
Balfour.  American  Jews  are  deeply  moved  by  the 
good  tidings ;  before  our  countries  and  their  Allies 
lies  the  task  of  winning  the  war  for  liberation  and 
justice  and  the  sanctity  of  international  relations, 
to  the  end  that  the  sacredness  of  the  right  of  small 
nations  may  never  again  be  violated.  This  is  the  day 


82  Great  Britain,  Palestine  and  the  Jews 

which  the  Lord  hath  made;  let  us  be  glad  and  re¬ 
joice  therein. 

DR.  STEPHEN  S.  WISE,  Chairman  Provisional  Zionist 

Committee,  New  York 

The  Declaration  has  transferred  Zionism  from 
the  field  of  national  aspirations  to  the  realm  of 
political  fact.  Not  in  centuries  has  any  word  been 
spoken  of  equally  vital  consequence  to  the  well-being 
of  Israel. 

Two  things  may  be  assumed  on  the  basis  of  the 
historic  utterance  of  the  British  Minister  of  Foreign 
Affairs :  the  one  that  Britain  is  not  acting  alone.  It 
is  not  for  us  to  predicate  that  England  has  spoken 
and  acted  in  concert  with  her  Allies,  but  we  are 
justified  in  believing  that  England,  ever  working  in 
closest  co-operation  with  her  Allies  in  the  War,  will 
in  the  day  of  peace  find  herself  not  only  supported 
by  France  and  Italy,  but  above  all  by  the  American 
Government  and  people,  which,  under  the  leadership 
of  President  Wilson,  must  needs  insist  that  the 
destruction  of  the  Prussian  ideal  must  be  followed  by 
the  establishment  and  maintenance  of  the  integrity 
of  the  lesser  nations.  The  other  fact  that  is  bound 
inevitably  with  the  Declaration  of  the  British  Cabi 
net  is  that  it  is  to  be  taken  for  granted  that  opposi¬ 
tion  to  Zionism  is  ended. 


33 


Mr.  Adolph  Kraus 

JUDGE  JULIAN  W.  MACK,  Chicago 

American  Jews,  citizens  of  this  great  Republic, 
and  owing  to  it  their  sole  and  undivided  allegiance 
and  loyalty,  rejoice  with  the  Jews  of  all  countries 
that  the  British  Government  has  issued  this  epoch- 
making  Declaration. 

The  dreams  and  prayers  of  twenty  centuries, 
embodied  in  the  famous  Basle  Zionist  declaration 
that  Palestine  may  again  become  the  homeland  of 
the  Jewish  people,  secured  and  recognised  as  such 
by  the  law  of  the  nations,  is  approaching  realisation. 

MR.  ADOLPH  KRAUS,  President  Independent  Order 

B’nai  B’rith,  U.8.A. 

The  Declaration  by  the  British  Government  that 
it  is  ready  to  support  the  establishment  of  a  home¬ 
land  for  the  Jewish  people  in  Palestine  gains  ad¬ 
ditional  significance  by  reason  of  the  progress  which 
the  British  Forces  are  making  in  Palestine.  The 
declaration  must  have  the  effect  of  gaining  for  the 
Zionist  cause  the  support  of  even  such  Jews  as  have 
hitherto  been  indifferent  or  opposed  to  the  move¬ 
ment,  for  no  Jew  can  consistently  oppose  the  estab¬ 
lishment  of  a  Jewish  homeland,  be  it  ever  so  small. 


PUBLIC  DEMONSTRATIONS 


I 


PUBLIC  DEMONSTRATIONS 


THE  GREAT  THANKSGIVING  MEETING  AT  THE 
LONDON  OPERA  HOUSE 

The  greatest  and  most  imposing  public  meeting 
ever  held  in  the  history  of  British  Jewry  was  that 
which  took  place  on  Sunday,  December  £,  1917,  at 
the  London  Opera  House,  for  the  purpose  of  thank¬ 
ing  the  British  Government  for  its  declaration  in 
favour  of  the  establishment  in  Palestine  of  a  national 
home  for  the  Jewish  people.  The  building  was 
crowded  with  an  enthusiastic  audience  representa¬ 
tive  of  all  sections  of  the  Anglo- Jewish  community. 
Delegates  were  present  from  nearly  all  Jewish  con¬ 
gregations,  organisations,  institutions,  and  societies 
in  the  United  Kingdom.  The  chair  was  taken  by 
Lord  Rothschild. 

Lord  Rothschild  said  they  were  met  on  the  most 
momentous  occasion  in  the  history  of  Judaism  for 
the  last  1800  years.  They  were  there  to  return 
thanks  to  His  Majesty’s  Government  for  a  Declara¬ 
tion  which  marked  an  epoch  in  Jewish  history  of 
outstanding  importance.  For  the  first  time  since 
the  Dispersion  the  Jewish  people  had  received  its 
proper  status  by  the  Declaration  of  one  of  the  Great 

37 


88  Great  Britain,  Palestine  and  the  Jews 

Powers.  The  Declaration,  while  acknowledging  and 
approving  of  the  aspirations  of  the  Jewish  people 
for  a  national  home,  at  the  same  time  placed  Jews 
on  their  honour  to  respect  the  rights  and  privileges 
not  only  of  their  prospective  non- Jewish  neighbours 
in  Palestine,  but  also  of  those  of  their  own  people 
who  did  not  see  eye  to  eye  with  the  Zionist  cause. 
Feeling  as  he  did  that  the  aims  of  Zionism  were  in 
no  way  incompatible  with  the  highest  patriotism  and 
loyal  citizenship  of  the  J ews  in  the  various  countries 
in  which  they  were  dwelling,  he  would  like  the  meet¬ 
ing  in  passing  the  resolution  which  would  be  sub¬ 
mitted  to  them  to  assure  the  Government  that  they 
would,  one  and  all,  faithfully  observe  both  the  spirit 
and  the  letter  of  their  gracious  Declaration. 
(Cheers.)  He  felt  sure  that  the  principal  aim  of 
the  Zionists  was  to  provide  a  national  home  for 
those  portions  of  the  Jewish  people  who  wished  to 
escape  the  possibilities  in  the  future  of  such  op¬ 
pression  and  ill-treatment  as  they  had  endured  in  the 
past  and  he  therefore  held  that  all  and  every  section 
of  opinion  in  the  Jewish  people  could  work  together 
for  the  establishment  in  Palestine  of  such  a  home, 
so  as  to  make  it  a  triumphant  success. 

Lord  Rothschild  then  moved  the  following  reso¬ 
lution  : 

“That  this  mass  meeting,  representing  all  sections 
of  the  Jewish  community  in  the  United  Kingdom, 
conveys  to  His  Majesty’s  Government  an  expression 
of  heartfelt  gratitude  for  their  Declaration  in 
favour  of  the  establishment  in  Palestine  of  a  national 


The  Great  Thanksgiving  Meeting  39 

home  for  the  Jewish  people.  It  assures  His  Majes¬ 
ty’s  Government  that  their  historic  action  in  sup¬ 
port  of  the  national  aspirations  of  the  Jewish  people 
has  evoked  among  Jews  the  most  profound  senti¬ 
ments  of  joy.  This  meeting  further  pledges  its 
utmost  endeavours  to  give  its  whole-hearted  support 
to  the  Zionist  cause.” 

Lord  Robert  Cecil,  K.C.,  M.P.,  who  was  re¬ 
ceived  with  loud  cheering,  said: 

I  have  come  here  with  the  greatest  possible  pleasure 
at  the  request  of  those  who  represent,  or  who  have 
led  the  representation  of  the  Zionist  movement  of 
this  country,  to  offer  to  you  and  to  all  Zionists  my 
hearty  congratulations  on  the  event  which  you  are 
celebrating  to-day.  (Cheers.)  And  perhaps  you 
will  allow  me  to  mention  in  connection  with  these 
congratulations,  not  only  your  Chairman,  but  also 
M.  Nahum  Sokolow  and  Dr.  C.  Weizmann,  who  have 
done  so  much  for  the  cause  that  we  all  have  at  heart 
this  afternoon.  Surely  all  of  us  must  feel  what  a 
very  striking  gathering  the  present  one  is.  The 
keynote  of  our  meeting  this  afternoon  is  liberation. 
(Cheers.)  We  welcome  among  us  not  only  the  many 
thousands  of  Jews  that  I  see,  but  also  representa¬ 
tives  of  the  Arabian  and  Armenian  races  who  are 
also  in  this  great  struggle  struggling  to  be  free. 
(Hear,  hear.)  Our  wish  is  that  Arabian  countries 
shall  be  for  the  Arabs,  Armenia  for  the  Armenians, 
and  Judsea  for  the  Jews.  (Applause.)  Yes,  and 
let  us  add,  if  it  can  be  so,  let  Turkey,  real  Turkey, 
be  for  the  Turks. 


40  Great  Britain,  Palestine  and  the  Jews 

I  should  like  to  be  allowed  to  say  that  the  part 
that  this  country  is  taking  in  this  movement  is  not 
a  new  thing.  (Hear,  hear.)  I  venture  to  claim  for 
this  country  that  in  supporting  Zionism  it  has  been 
merely  carrying  out  its  traditional  policy.  To  me, 
at  any  rate,  it  seems  that  there  are  two  great 
foundations  upon  which  the  policy  of  this  country 
has  always  been  based.  I  believe  they  are  often 
described  by  the  two  words  “Liberty”  and  “Justice.” 
Perhaps  more  accurately  they  may  be  called  the 
supremacy  of  the  Law  and  Liberty,  for,  be  well 
assured,  if  we  are  ever  to  obtain  that  security  which 
we  have  been  recently  told  is  so  important  to  us, 
if  we  are  ever  to  lift  European  civilisation  and  na¬ 
tional  relations  in  Europe  out  of  the  anarchy  in 
which  they  at  present  are,  it  must  be  by  the  same 
means  by  which  we  have  secured  liberty  and  happi¬ 
ness  in  each  country,  namely,  by  the  supremacy  of 
Law. 

As  for  the  second  foundation  of  which  I  have 
spoken,  and  which  has  more  practical  bearing  on  our 
proceedings  this  afternoon,  may  I  say  this:  We 
hear  a  great  deal  of  a  new  word,  “Self-determina¬ 
tion.”  Well,  I  don’t  know  that  it  is  a  new  thing. 
It  certainly  is  not  new  in  the  British  Empire.  The 
Empire  has  always  striven  to  give  to  all  the  peoples 
that  make  it  up  the  fullest  measure  of  self-govern¬ 
ment  of  which  they  are  capable.  (Hear,  hear.)  We 
have  always  striven  to  give  to  all  peoples  within  our 
bounds  complete  liberty  and  equality  before  the  Law. 
(Hear,  hear.)  We  are  adjured  to  respect  the  prin¬ 
ciple  of  self-determination ;  but  I  say  that  the  British 
Empire  was  the  first  organisation  to  teach  that  prin- 


The  Great  Thanksgiving  Meeting  41 

ciple  to  the  world,  and  one  of  the  great  causes  for 
which  we  are  in  this  war  is  to  secure  to  all  peoples 
the  right  to  govern  themselves  and  to  work  out  their 
own  destiny,  irrespective  of  the  threats  and  menaces 
of  their  greater  neighbour.  (Hear,  hear.) 

One  of  the  great  steps — in  my  judgment,  in  some 
ways  the  greatest  step — we  have  taken  in  carrying 
out  this  principle  is  the  recognition  of  Zionism.  This 
is  the  first  constructive  effort  that  we  have  made  in 
what  I  hope  will  be  the  new  settlement  of  the  world 
after  the  war.  (Cheers.)  I  do  not  say  that  that  is 
the  only  thing  involved.  It  is  not  only  the  recogni¬ 
tion  of  a  nationality — it  is  much  more  than  that.  It 
lias  great  underlying  ideals  of  which  you  will  hear 
this  afternoon  and  of  which  it  would  be  imperti¬ 
nent  of  me  to  speak.  It  is,  indeed,  not  the  birth  of 
a  nation,  for  the  Jewish  nation  through  centuries 
of  oppression  and  captivity  have  preserved  their 
sentiment  of  nationality  as  few  people  could;  but  if 
it  is  not  the  birth  of  a  nation,  I  believe  we  may  say 
it  is  the  re-birth  of  a  nation.  (Applause.)  I  don’t 
like  to  prophesy  what  ultimate  results  that  great 
event  may  have,  but  for  myself  I  believe  it  will  have 
a  far-reaching  influence  on  the  history  of  the  world 
and  consequences  which  none  can  foresee  on  the 
future  history  of  the  human  race.  (Loud  cheers.) 

Mr.  Herbert  Samuel,  M.P.,  who  received  an 
enthusiastic  welcome,  said: 

I  rejoice  wholeheartedly  in  the  pronouncement  that 
has  been  made  by  the  British  Government  with  re¬ 
spect  to  Palestine.  It  is  a  policy  which  for  nearly 


42  Great  Britain,  Palestine  and  the  Jews 

three  years  I  have  urged  in  the  Cabinet  and  out  of 
the  Cabinet  at  every  opportunity  that  arose. 
(Cheers.)  The  fears  and  the  doubts  which  this 
policy  has  evoked  are,  I  firmly  believe,  unfounded. 
Three  conditions  must  indeed  be  observed  in  any  new 
developments  that  may  take  place  in  Palestine.  In 
the  first  place,  there  must  be  full,  just  recognition  of 
the  rights  of  the  Arabs,  who  now  constitute  the  ma¬ 
jority  of  the  population  of  that  country.  Second¬ 
ly,  there  must  be  a  reverent  respect  for  the  Christian 
and  Mohammedan  holy  places,  which  in  all  eventuali¬ 
ties  should  always  remain  in  the  control  and  charge 
of  representatives  of  those  faiths.  (Cheers.)  In 
the  third  place,  there  must  be  no  attempt  now  or  in 
the  future  to  establish  anything  in  the  nature  of 
political  authority  from  Palestine  over  the  Jews 
scattered  in  other  countries  of  the  world,  who  must 
probably  always  remain  the  great  majority  of  the 
Jewish  race.  There  should  be  no  disturbance,  large 
or  small,  direct  or  indirect,  in  their  national  status 
or  in  their  national  rights  and  duties  in  the  coun¬ 
tries  of  which  they  are,  or  should  be,  full  and  equal 
citizens.  On  all  these  matters  there  is  no  divergence 
of  opinion  in  any  quarter,  and  the  controversies 
that  have  taken  place,  I  venture  to  think,  are  dis¬ 
putes  over  differences  that  do  not  exist. 

The  reason  why,  for  my  own  part,  I  support  the 
policy  which  we  are  here  to-day  to  approve  and 
celebrate  are  chiefly  these.  First,  it  may  be  that  the 
genius  of  the  Jewish  race  will  again  be  able  to  give 
to  the  world  a  brilliant  and  distinctive  civilisation. 
(Cheers.)  The  richness  of  mankind  lies  in  its  diver¬ 
sity.  We  do  not  want  the  world  to  be  like  some 


The  Great  Thanksgiving  Meeting  .  43 

great  library,  consisting  of  nothing  but  innumerable 
copies  of  one  and  the  same  book.  The  Jewish  mind 
is  a  distinctive  thing.  It  combines  in  remarkable 
degree  the  imaginative  and  the  practical,  the  ideal 
and  the  positive.  This  combination  of  qualities 
enabled  it  for  1500  years  in  Palestine  to  produce 
an  almost  unbroken  series  of  statesmen  and  soldiers, 
judges  and  poets,  prophets  and  seers — thinkers  and 
leaders  who  have  left  for  all  time  their  impress  upon 
the  world.  The  Jewish  mind  is  tenacious  and  per¬ 
sists,  and  now,  when  all  the  powerful  Empires  that 
overran  that  land  have  been  overthrown  and  almost 
forgotten,  the  Jewish  people  exists  and  is  more 
numerous  to-day  than  it  ever  has  been  at  any  period 
of  its  history.  Who  knows,  I  say,  but  that  if  again 
it  finds  a  spiritual  centre  of  its  own,  soundly  based 
on  an  industrious  population,  untrammelled,  self- 
contained,  inspired  by  the  memories  of  a  splendid 
past,  it  may  again  produce  golden  fruits  in  the  fields 
of  intellect  for  the  enrichment  of  the  whole  world. 
(Cheers.) 

And  my  other  reason  is  this :  If  this  comes  to  be, 
what  a  helpful  effect  it  would  have  upon  the  Jewish 
proletariat  that  will  still  remain  scattered  in  other 
countries  of  the  world !  I  see  in  my  mind’s  eye  those 
millions  in  Eastern  Europe  all  through  the  cen¬ 
turies,  crowded,  cramped,  proscribed,  bent  with  op¬ 
pression,  suffering  all  the  miseries  of  active  minds 
denied  scope,  of  talent  not  allowed  to  speak,  of 
genius  that  cannot  act.  I  see  them  enduring,  suf¬ 
fering  everything,  sacrificing  everything  in  order  to 
keep  alight  the  flame  of  which  they  knew  themselves 
to  be  the  lamp,  to  keep  alive  the  idea  of  which  they 


44  Great  Britain,  Palestine  and  the  Jews 

knew  themselves  to  be  the  vessel,  to  preserve  the  soul 
of  which  they  knew  themselves  to  be  the  body;  their 
eyes  always  set  upon  one  distant  point,  always  be¬ 
lieving  that  somehow,  some  day,  the  ancient  great¬ 
ness  would  be  restored ;  always  saying  when  they 
met  in  their  families  on  Passover  Night,  “Next  year 
in  Jerusalem.”  Year  after  year,  generation  follow¬ 
ing  generation,  century  succeeding  century,  till  the 
time  that  has  elapsed  is  counted  in  thousands  of 
years,  still  they  said,  “Next  year  in  Jerusalem.”  If 
that  cherished  vision  is  at  last  to  be  realised,  if  on 
the  Hills  of  Zion  a  Jewish  civilisation  is  restored 
with  something  of  its  old  intellectual  and  moral 
force,  then  among  those  left  in  the  other  countries 
of  the  world  I  can  see  growing  a  new  confidence  and  a 
new  greatness.  There  will  be  a  fresh  light  in  those 
eyes,  those  bent  backs  will  at  last  stand  erect,  there 
will  be  a  greater  dignity  in  the  Jew  throughout  the 
world.  (Cheers.) 

That  is  why  we  meet  to-day  to  thank  the  British 
Government,  our  own  Government — (cheers) — that 
has  made  all  this  possible,  that  we  shall  be  able  to 
say,  not  as  a  pious  and  distant  wish,  but  as  a  near 
and  confident  hope,  “Next  year  in  Jerusalem” — 
HSOn  — (Loud  and  prolonged  cheers). 

CoiiONEii»  Sir  Mark  Sykes  said : 

When  one  thinks  of  the  years  that  have  passed, 
of  the  immense  spaces  of  history  which  stand  between 
what  was  and  now  is  promised  to-day,  truly  one  is 
dazzled — one  is  dazzled  by  the  possibility  of  the 
prospects  which  open  before  us.  I  say  I  am  speak- 


The  Great  Thanksgiving  Meeting  45 

ing  to  you  as  a  watcher,  but  you  in  a  sense  perhaps 
also  are  watchers ;  perhaps  you  see  as  I  see  an  Asia 
stricken  with  plagues  and  cumbered  with  ruins  and 
a  Europe  a  welter  of  blood.  Perhaps  you  too  see 
those  two  things,  and  I  pray  that  you  realise  that  it 
may  be  your  destiny  to  be  the  bridge  between  Asia 
and  Europe;  to  bring  the  spirituality  of  Asia  to 
Europe  and  the  vitality  of  Europe  to  Asia.  I  firmly 
believe  that  is  the  mission  of  Zionism.  I  see  here 
something  which  is  greater  than  the  dream  even  of 
a  League  of  Nations,  which  is  a  dream  of  a  League 
of  Races  and  finally  a  League  of  Ideals.  There 
is  the  great  vision ;  that  is  what  may,  that  is  what 
does,  I  believe,  lie  before  you. 

But  no  person  realises  more  than  I  do — I  know 
the  ground,  some  of  it,  and  boldly  I  dare  to  say 
that  there  lie  before  you  dangers,  difficulties,  and 
possible  obstructions ;  but,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  your 
time  of  probation  has  been  long.  You  are  schooled 
in  adversity;  you  can  look  on  difficulties  with  calm, 
and  you  will  overcome  them.  I  do  not  look  for  a 
sudden  magic  transformation.  No;  but  I  believe 
that  you  are  beginning  a  great  and  beneficial  and 
irresistible  transition.  That  is  what  you  are  be¬ 
ginning. 

Now,  I  believe,  you  are  going  to  set  up  a  power 
which  is  not  a  domination  of  blood  or  a  domination 
of  gold,  but  a  domination  of  intellectual  force.  I 
believe  you  will  see  in  Palestine  a  great  centre  of 
ideals  radiating  out  to  every  country  in  the  world 
where  your  people  are.  And  if  there  is  one  thing 
that  gives  me  great  pleasure  here  to-day  it  is  to  feel 
that  you — at  this  turning-point  in  your  history, 


46  Great  Britain,  Palestine  and  the  Jews 

when  the  Government  made  its  Declaration — you 
thought  not  only  of  yourselves,  but  you  thought  also 
— and  afterwards  you  will  look  back  with  joy  on  the 
fact — when  the  hope  of  redemption  was  held  out 
to  you,  you  thought  not  only  of  yourselves  but  also 
of  your  fellows  in  adversity,  the  Armenians  and  the 
Arabs.  (Loud  cheers.) 

♦ 

The  Chief  Rabbi  said  it  was  indeed  a  rare  privi¬ 
lege  to  take  part  in  that  wonderful  meeting  called 
together  to  express  the  heartfelt  thanks  of  British 
Jewry  for  the  striking  sympathy  of  His  Majesty’s 
Government  with  Jewish  aspirations.  The  epoch- 
making  Declaration  on  Palestine  was  an  assurance 
given  by  the  mightiest  of  empires  that  the  new  order 
which  the  Allies  are  now  creating  at  such  sacrifice 
of  life  and  treasure  shall  be  rooted  in  righteousness, 
and  broad-based  on  the  liberty  of  and  reverence  for 
every  oppressed  nationality.  It  was  a  solemn  pledge 
that  the  oldest  of  national  tragedies  shall  be  ended 
in  the  coming  re-adjustment  of  the  nations  which 
shall  console  mankind  for  the  slaughter  and  waste 
and  torment  of  this  terrible  world-war.  In  the  face 
of  an  event  of  such  infinite  importance  to  the  Jewish 
people,  ordinary  words  of  appreciation  or  the  usual 
phrases  of  gratitude  were  hopelessly  weak  and  in¬ 
adequate.  For  the  interpretation  of  their  true  feel¬ 
ings  to-day  they  must  turn  to  Scripture.  Twenty- 
five  hundred  years  ago  Cyrus  issued  his  edict  of 
liberation  to  the  Jewish  exiles  in  Babylon;  and  an 
eye-witness  of  that  glorious  day  had  left  them  in  the 
126th  Psalm  a  record  of  how  their  fathers  received 
the  announcement  of  their  deliverance.  ‘When  the 


The  Great  Thanksgiving  Meeting  47 

Lord  brought  back  those  that  returned!  to  Zion” — 
h'vbns  l)«n — uwe  were  like  unto  them  that  dream. 
Then  said  they  among  the  nations :  ‘The  Lord  hath 
done  great  things  for  them.5  The  Lord  hath  done 
great  things  for  us;  whereof  we  are  glad.”  Theirs 
was  a  similar  feeling  of  joy  and  wonder.  With  them 
likewise  it  was  the  astonishment  of  the  nations,  the 
reassuring  approbation  of  statesmen  and  rulers  that 
caused  them  to  exclaim:  “We  will  see  it  done,  and 
done  consummately,  the  thing  so  many  have  thought 
could  never  be  done!”  (Cheers.)  The  spirit  of  the 
Declaration  was  that  of  absolute  justice,  whether  to 
Jews  out  of  Palestine  or  to  non- Jews  in  Palestine. 
They  especially  welcomed  in  it  the  reference  to  the 
civil  and  religious  rights  of  the  existing  non-Jewish 
communities  in  Palestine.  That  was  but  a  trans¬ 
lation  of  the  basic  principle  of  the  Mosaic  legislation. 
(Cheers.)  But  it  was  the  substance  of  the  Declara¬ 
tion — the  promise  of  a  national  home  for  the  Jewish 
people — that  filled  their  souls  with  gladness.  For 
only  on  its  own  soil  could  the  Jewish  people  live  its 
own  life  and  make,  as  in  the  past  it  had  made,  its 
characteristic  and  specific  contributions  to  the  spirit¬ 
ual  treasure  of  humanity.  After  the  proclamation 
issued  by  Cyrus,  the  mass  of  the  Jewish  people  still 
remained  in  Babylon.  All  told,  only  42,000  men, 
women,  and  children  took  advantage  of  the  King’s 
proclamation  and  followed  Ezra  back  to  Zion,  the 
land  of  their  fathers.  But  that  handful  of  Zionists 
and  their  descendants,  because  living  on  their  own 
soil,  changed  the  entire  future  of  mankind.  They 
edited  and  collected  the  Prophets,  wrote  some  of  the 
fairest  portions  of  the  Scriptures,  formed  the  canon 


48  Great  Britain,  Palestine  and  the  Jews 

of  the  Bible,  and  gave  the  world  its  monotheistic  re¬ 
ligions.  (Cheers.)  Now,  as  then,  only  “a  remnant 
shall  return” — iie*  iNt?,  But  now,  as  then,  it  was 
the  national  rejuvenation  of  that  remnant  that  is 
to  open  a  new  chapter  in  the  annals  of  the  human 
spirit.  Difficulties?  Of  course  there  were  difficul¬ 
ties.  The  task  of  laying  the  foundations  of  a  new 
Israel  must  be  one  of  long  toil  and  severe  trial.  But 
a  people  that  for  twenty-five  centuries  had  stood 
victoriously  against  the  storm  of  time  possessed 
vitality  enough,  patience  enough,  idealism  enough, 
with  the  help  of  God,  to  rise  to  the  level  of  this 
unique,  world-historic  opportunity.  (Loud  cheers.) 

Du.  M.  Gaster  said  that  he  stood  before  them 
as  an  old  friend,  deeply  imbued  with  the  spirit  of 
faith,  a  dreamer  of  visions,  if  they  would.  What 
appeared  to  so  many  as  a  dream  had  now  become  a 
reality — (cheers) — and  they  were  gathered  there  to 
begin  to  reap  in  joy  what  they  had  sown  in  tears  and 
sorrow.  It  was  for  all  of  them  a  day  of  joy  to  see 
the  fruits  which  they  had  so  long  wished  for.  They 
had  come  together  to  thank  the  British  Government 
for  their  Declaration  of  sympathy  with  their  national 
aspirations.  Therein  lay  the  greatness  of  the  British 
Government,  that  it  had  lifted  the  problem  from  its 
local  geographical  character  and  given  to  it  that 
universally  valued  importance  which  they  attached  to 
it.  What  they  wished  to  obtain  in  Palestine  was 
not  merely  a  right  to  establish  colonies,  or  educa¬ 
tional,  cultured,  or  industrial  institutions.  They 
wanted  to  establish  in  Palestine  an  autonomous  Jew¬ 
ish  Commonwealth  in  the  fullest  sense  of  the  word. 


The  Great  Thanksgiving  Meeting  49 

They  wanted  Palestine  to  be  Palestine  of  the  Jews 
and  not  merely  a  Palestine  for  Jews.  They  wished 
the  land  to  be  again  what  it  was  in  olden  times 
and  what  it  had  been  for  Jews  in  their  prayers  and 
in  their  Bible — a  land  of  Israel.  The  ground  must 
be  theirs.  (Cheers.)  They  stood  indeed  as  a  peo¬ 
ple  for  the  same  programme  as  British  statesmen 
were  standing  to-day  in  a  larger  sphere.  Jews  stood 
for  reparation,  restitution,  and  guarantees — 
(cheers) — and  it  was  in  the  very  application  of 
those  principles  that  the  greatness  and  importance 
of  the  Declaration  of  the  British  Government  stood 
out  so  luminously.  England  owed  to  Jews  no  repara¬ 
tion.  Here  they  had  liberty,  full  freedom,  equality 
of  right  and  equality  of  duty,  and  they  had  risen 
to  the  responsibility  which  had  thus  been  placed  upon 
them.  For  many  of  them  there  had  their  children 
now  fighting  the  battles  of  England. 

But  the  British  Government  had  now  made  itself 
the  champion  of  reparation  to  the  Jewish  people  for 
the  wrongs  done  to  them  by  the  world.  It  had  made 
itself  a  champion  too  of  the  restitution  of  the  land 
to  our  nation,  for  whom  it  is  the  old  inheritance,  and 
it  had  given  them  a  guarantee — security  of  tenure, 
independence,  a  right  and  freedom  of  action  as  a 
people  in  their  ancient  land.  The  establishment  of  a 
Jewish  Commonwealth  in  the  land  of  their  fathers 
would  also  consolidate  and  clarify  the  position  of  the 
rest  of  the  Jews  throughout  the  world.  (Hear, 
hear.)  He  believed  that  a  new  world  was  to  arise  in 
which  the  Jew,  as  Jew,  would  find  himself  a  free  man. 

In  conclusion,  he  reminded  them  of  an  old  legend 
wdiich  told  that  when  the  Temple  was  destroyed  the 


SO  Great  Britain,  Palestine  and  the  Jews 

stones  split  into  splinters  and  each  one  entered  the 
heart  of  a  Jew.  It  was  this  memorial  of  our  fallen 
nation  which  the  Jew  carried  in  his  bosom  and  which 
bent  his  back.  But  they  were  coming  together  once 
again  as  a  nation  in  Palestine,  and  they  would  take 
the  splinters  of  the  stones  from  out  of  their  hearts — 
“and,”  exclaimed  Dr.  Gaster,  “I  feel  the  stone  in 
my  heart  already  loosening.”  (Loud  and  prolonged 
cheers.) 

Shahk  Ismail  Abdul-al-Akki  then  addressed  the 
meeting.  He  spoke  in  Arabic,  and  his  speech  was 
translated  by  Mr.  I.  Sieff,  who  mentioned  that  the 
speaker  was  under  sentence  of  death  by  the  Turkish 
Government  for  having  joined  the  Arab  national 
movement.  Shahk  Ismail  said  he  desired  to  tender 
deep  gratitude  to  the  British  nation  and  the  British 
Government  for  affording  his  countrymen  and  him¬ 
self  help  and  asylum  in  their  hour  of  persecution. 
His  country  was  held  in  chains  by  the  Turks,  who 
were  supplied  with  German  gold,  and  he  looked  with 
confidence  to  England  and  France  to  deliver  them 
from  bondage,  as  he  believed  in  the  ultimate  good 
over  evil,  and  was  confident  in  the  victory  of  the 
Allies.  He  not  only  spoke  as  an  Arab,  but  as  a 
“Moslem”  Arab,  having  studied  five  years  in  Theolog¬ 
ical  Schools  and  being  granted  a  Degree,  and  it 
was  the  duty  of  every  Moslem  to  participate  in 
the  movement  for  the  liberation  of  their  country¬ 
men.  The  meeting  was  to  celebrate  the  great  act 
of  the  British  Government  in  recognising  the  aspira¬ 
tions  of  the  Jewish  people,  and  he  appealed  to  them 
not  to  forget  in  the  days  of  their  happiness  that 


The  Great  Thanksgiving  Meeting  51 

the  sons  of  Ishmael  suffered  also.  They  had  been 
scattered  and  confounded  as  the  Jews  had  been,  and 
now  began  to  arise,  fortified  with  the  sense  of  mar¬ 
tyrs.  He  hoped  that  Palestine  would  again  flow 
with  milk  and  honey.  (Cheers.) 

M.  Wadia  Kesrawani,  a  Syrian  Christian,  spoke 
in  French,  also  to  the  effect  that  his  countrymen 
appealed  to  England  and  France  for  their  liberation, 
and  applauded  the  Declaration  of  the  Government. 

Mr.  Israel  Zangwui/l,  who  was  received  with  loud 
and  prolonged  cheers,  said : 

In  my  capacity  of  President  of  the  Jewish  Ter¬ 
ritorial  Organisation  I  have  been  honoured  with  an 
invitation  to  appear  on  your  platform  on  this 
momentous  occasion.  In  that  capacity  I  have  often 
criticised  your  leaders.  But  to-day  I  am  here  not 
for  criticism  but  for  congratulation  and  co-opera¬ 
tion.  I  congratulate  them,  and  especially  Dr.  Weiz- 
mann  and  M.  Sokolow,  upon  their  historic  achieve¬ 
ment  in  the  region  of  diplomacy.  To  see  that  this  is 
followed  by  a  similar  achievement  in  the  more  dif¬ 
ficult  region  of  practice  is  the  duty  of  all  Israel. 
Particularly  is  it  the  duty  of  the  Ito,  founded  as 
it  was  to  procure  a  territory  upon  an  autonomous 
basis. 

But  I  do  not  come  to  the  Government,  as  Lord 
Morley  tells  us  the  Kaiser  came  to  him,  with  mock 
salaams  and  marks  of  Oriental  obeisance,  for  I  have 
long  maintained  that  after  a  war  for  liberty  and 
the  rights  of  small  nations  this  very  reparation  was 


52  Great  Britain.  Palestine  and  the  Jews 

due  to  that  unhappy,  scattered  and  divided  people 
which  has  bled  and  suffered  with  all  the  belligerents. 
And  as  an  English-born  citizen  I  am  proud  that  my 
country  by  thij  pro-Jewish  manifesto  has  wiped  out 
the  stain  of  her  alliance  with  the  fallen  Pharaoh. 
But  whatever  the  general  Jewish  gratitude  for  this 
extension  of  the  principles  of  nationalities,  the  Jews 
in  Turkey  and  other  now  enemy  countries  are  as 
loyal  to  their  fatherland  as  we  are  to  ours,  and  we 
who  stand  here  can  have  no  claim  to  pledge  the 
race  to  any  Power  or  Powers.  All  we  can  say  is 
that  happily  the  vast  majority  are  concentrated  in 
those  Allied  and  democratic  countries  with  which 
they  are  in  natural  affinity.  Particularly  close  is 
their  affinity  with  the  English.  But  it  is  not  sur¬ 
prising  that  the  nation  whose  noble  version  of  our 
Scriptures  has  made  the  Bible  almost  a  British 
possession  should  vibrate  to  Jewish  national  aspira¬ 
tions. 

From  the  first  the  formula  of  the  Ito  has  run, 
“To  procure  a  territory  upon  an  autonomous  basis 
for  those  Jews  who  cannot,  or  will  not,  remain  in  the 
lands  in  which  they  at  present  live.5*  For  those  and 
for  those  only.  Not  for  those  who  can  or  will  remain 
in  their  present  lands.  With  these  there  may  be  a 
spiritual  connection,  there  cannot  be  a  political.  And 
to-day,  when,  to  quote  your  great  leader,  Max 
Nordau,  “the  period  of  rhetoric  is  over,  the  hour  of 
deeds  is  approaching,55  I  am  glad  to  have  the  as¬ 
surance  of  the  Zionist  leaders  here  that  they  unre¬ 
servedly  accept  the  Government’s  stipulation  that 
“nothing  shall  be  done  which  might  prejudice  the 
rights  and  political  status  enjoyed  by  Jews  in  any 


The  Great  Thanksgiving  Meeting  53 

other  country.”  Once  Zionism  is  established  on  this 
sound  basis,  not  only  does  its  formula  become  identi¬ 
cal  with  the  Ito’s,  but  I  can  see  no  reason  why  all 
Israel  should  not  co-operate  with  both  organisations 
in  developing  Palestine  as  a  Jewish  national  home 
for  those  Jews  who  can  or  will  go  there.  To  dimin¬ 
ish  the  risks  of  confusion,  let  Palestine  be  called 
what  Lord  Robert  Cecil  called  it,  Judaea,  and  let 
the  Jews  who  adopt  its  citizenship  be  called  Judaeans. 
Then  all  the  others  will  remain  as  before,  Jews — 
J ews  of  whatever  political  allegiance  they  choose.  A 
national  home  in  Palestine — freedom  and  equal  rights 
everywhere  else;  here  surely  is  a  platform  that  can 
unite  all  Israel,  and  so  far  as  I  can  see  it  is  uniting 
them. 

I  do  not  say  that  this  autonomy  must  come  at  & 
bound.  Though  in  my  opinion  the  boldest  way  is 
always  the  best  way  and  responsibility  is  a  people’s 
best  educator,  yet  I  am  prepared  to  make  all  possible 
concessions  to  circumstances  and  history.  But  unless 
the  Palestine  colonisation  is  so  planned  that  it  must 
eventually  produce  the  national  autonomous  home  I 
for  one  will  not  devote  my  limited  strength  to  such 
a  mockery  of  Jewish  aspirations.  The  times  are 
too  serious  and  tragic  for  such  trifling.  Mount  Zion 
is  in  labour.  Shall  it  produce  a  mouse?  No,  it 
must  produce  a  lion — the  lion  of  Judah. 

Seven  crusades  to  the  Holy  Land  have  all  meant 
massacre  for  the  Jews;  if  the  eighth  crusade  is  to 
mean  Palestine  for  the  Jews,  if  it  is  to  be  truly  a 
Christian  crusade,  then  that  very  fact  is  a  proof  of  a 
new  world-order  of  love  and  justice.  Let  us  Jews, 
the  people  of  Isaiah,  at  such  a  turning-point  in  his- 


54  Great  Britain*  Palestine  and  the  Jews 

tory,  make  a  great  act  of  faith*  and,  instead  of 
disavowing  the  brotherhood  of  Israel,  let  us  pro¬ 
claim  from  our  Jerusalem  centre  the  brotherhood  of 
man. 

But  this  spiritual  work  is  not  all  that  calls  to 
us.  Palestine  is  a  place  full  of  stones  and  fever. 
It  is  a  land  whose  main  bulk  lies  almost  as  desolate 
as  the  plains  of  Flanders — ruined  not  by  German 
war,  but  by  Turkish  peace,  by  centuries  of  neglect 
and  misgovernment.  With  the  depletion  of  the 
world’s  resources,  and  especially  of  the  workPs  man¬ 
power,  by  this  terrible  war,  who  is  to  win  this  country 
for  civilisation  if  not  we  Jews?  Even  if  we  had  no 
historic  connection  with  it,  that  would  be  a  worthy 
mission  for  a  people.  Let  me  appeal  therefore  to 
the  British  Jews  to  work  with  us  and  to  work  loyally. 
For  even  at  the  best  the  goal  is  far.  Palestine  is 
not  yet  ours,  and  even  when  it  is,  our  work,  despite 
the  pioneers  we  shall  always  honour — despite  even 
Baron  Edmond  de  Rothschild — will  only  begin.  Al¬ 
ready  under  the  aegis  of  England  our  young  men 
have  died  there.  But  eagerly  as  our  young  men  have 
sacrificed  themselves  in  Palestine  for  war,  still  more 
eagerly  -will  they  offer  themselves  there  for  the 
labours  and  sacrifices  of  peace.  That  will  be  the 
true  Jewish  Regiment. 

And  though  our  goal  be  yet  far,  and  though  we 
may  not  rejoice,  yet  already  when  I  recall  how  our 
small  nation  sustained  the  mailed  might  of  all  the 
great  empires  of  antiquity ;  how  we  saw  our  Temple 
in  flames  and  were  scattered  like  its  ashes ;  how  we 
endured  the  long  night  of  the  Middle  Ages,  illumined 
by  the  glare  of  our  martyrs’  fires ;  how  but  yesterday 


The  Great  Thanksgiving  Meeting  55 

wfe  wandered  in  our  millions,  torn  between  the  ruth¬ 
less  Prussian  and  the  pitiless  Russian,  jet  have  lived 
to  see  to-day  the  bloody  Empire  of  the  Czars  dis¬ 
solve  and  the  mountains  of  Zion  glimmer  on  the 
horizon,  already  I  feel  we  may  say  to  the  other 
nations :  “Comfort  ye,  comfort  ye,  too,  poor  suffer¬ 
ing  peoples.  Learn  from  the  long  patience  of  Israel 
that  the  spirit  is  mightier  than  the  sword,  and  that 
the  seer  who  foretold  his  people’s  resurrection  was 
not  less  prophetic  when  he  proclaimed  also  for  all 
peoples  the  peace  of  Jerusalem.”  (Loud  cheers.) 

M.  IL  N.  Mostditchian,  a  member  of  the  Arme¬ 
nian  Delegation,  said  he  availed  himself  of  the  oppor¬ 
tunity  of  giving  their  Jewish  brethren  the  heartiest 
greetings  of  the  Armenians — (cheers) — and  sincerest 
congratulations  for  the  dawn  about  to  break  upon 
the  glad  valleys  of  their  ancestral  land.  He  made 
a  comparison  of  the  two  nations  who  had  gone 
through  the  same  persecutions,  but  who,  notwith¬ 
standing,  were  not  willing  to  die,  and  had  not  died — 
(cheers) — and  who  stood  to-day  hand-in-hand  on 
the  eve  of  a  new  era,  when  both  of  them  would  be 
able  to  live  once  more  their  national  lives,  of  which 
they  had  given  good  evidence  in  the  past.  They  all 
knew  that  Armenia  was  one  of  the  first  countries 
mentioned  in  the  history  of  the  Jews,  and  there 
had  reigned  one  thousand  two  hundred  years  ago  a 
dynasty  of  Armenian  kings  who  had  in  their  veins  a 
good  deal  of  Jewish  blood.  After  the  loss  of  their 
independence  the  Jews  had  continued  to  live  a  life  of 
captivity  and  exile,  and  the  Armenians,  after  the 
loss  of  their  independence,  had  suffered  the  same 


56  Great  Britain,  Palestine  and  the  Jews 

exile.  It  was  not  the  time  to  say  what  the  Armenians 
had  suffered  during  the  last  three  years — a  state 
of  things  to  which  the  worst  pogrom  was  a  heaven ; 
but  they,  as  well  as  the  Jews,  looked  towards  “to¬ 
morrow”  with  great  fervour  as  a  result  of  the 
Declaration.  They  had  waited  long  enough  with 
their  Jewish  brethren,  for  centuries  and  centuries, 
and  these  two  nations  as  well  as  the  Arabs  would 
make  Palestine  another  Promised  Land  and  a  Garden 
of  Eden — a  centre  to  which  humanity  might  look 
up.  (Cheers.) 

Mr.  Nahum  Sokolow  said  that  the  Zionist  Or¬ 
ganisation  felt  the  deepest  and  keenest  satisfaction 
at  the  Declaration  of  His  Majesty’s  Government. 
He  had  the  honour  to  make  the  following  declara¬ 
tion  to  the  Arabs:  “Relations  between  Jews  and 
Arabs  had  hitherto  been  scanty  and  spasmodic, 
largely  owing  to  mutual  ignorance  and  indifference. 
There  were  no  relations  whatever  between  the  two 
nations  as  such,  because  the  oppressive  Power  did 
not  recognise  either  of  them,  and  whenever  points  of 
connection  began  to  develop  they  were  destroyed  by 
intrigue,  to  the  detriment  of  both  nationalities.  We 
believe  that  the  present  hour  of  crisis  and  the  open¬ 
ing  of  a  large  perspective  for  epoch-making  develop¬ 
ments  offer  a  fruitful  opportunity  for  a  broad  basis 
of  permanent  cordial  relations  between  two  peoples 
who  are  inspired  by  a  common  purpose.  We  mean 
a  real  entente  cordiale  between  Jews,  Arabs,  and 
Armenians,  such  an  entente  cordiale  having  already 
been  accepted  in  principle  by  leading  representatives 
of  these  three  nations.  From  such  a  beginning  we 


The  Great  Thanksgiving  Meeting  57 

look  forward  with  confidence  to  a  future  of  intel¬ 
lectual,  social,  and  economic  co-operation ;  we  are 
one  with  the  Arabs  and  Armenians  to-day  in  the 
determination  to  secure  for  each  of  us  the  free  choice 
of  our  own  destinies.  We  look  with  fraternal  love 
at  the  creation  of  the  Arab  kingdom,  re-establishing 
Semitic  nationality  in  its  glory  and  freedom,  and 
our  heartiest  wishes  go  out  to  the  noble,  hardly-tried 
Armenian  nationality  for  the  realisation  of  their 
national  hopes  in  their  old  Armenia.  Our  roots 
were  united  in  the  past,  our  destinies  will  be  bound 
together  in  the  future.”  That  was  their  declaration 
to  their  future  neighbours.  (Cheers.) 

Captain  The  Hon.  W.  Ormsby  Gore,  M.P.,  said: 

As  a  British  subject  who  has  no  Jewish  con¬ 
nections  I  stand  here  this  afternoon  the  personal 
friend  of  the  Zionist  leaders,  one  who  has  seen  their 
work  during  the  past  year,  both  here  and  in  Egypt, 
and  I  wish  to  congratulate  them  upon  their  sticcess 
and  join  with  them  in  thanking  the  British  Govern¬ 
ment  on  the  occasion  of  what  I  regard  as  a  real 
epoch-making  advance  in  civilisation.  It  was,  I  think, 
just  about  a  year  ago  that  I  first  came  into  contact 
with  the  Zionist  movement  in  its  practical  form, 
when  I  was  brought  into  close  official  contact  with 
the  Palestine  refugees  in  Egypt.  And  from  meeting 
them  I  learned  that  the  Jews  were  already,  and  have 
been  during  the  past  forty  years,  endeavouring  to 
bring  idealism  into  that  stricken  land.  The  more 
one  saw  of  Turkish  rule,  more  particularly  the  rule 
since  the  deposition  of  Caliph  Abdul  Hamid  by  the 


58  Great  Britain,  Palestine  and  the  Jews 

Young  Turks,  the  more  one  saw  there  was  no  hope 
for  Zionism,  for  liberty,  for  fair  dealing,  even  in 
such  a  matter  as  taxation,  no  hope  for  progressive 
agriculture,  unless  Palestine  were  delivered  from  the 
thraldom  of  alien  rule.  I  am  particularly  glad  that 
this  Declaration  has  been  made  by  the  British  Gov¬ 
ernment  at  a  moment  when  British  arms  are  deliver¬ 
ing  that  land,  because  it  shows  that  Britain  is  not 
out  for  gain  for  herself,  but  is  out  in  a  greater  spirit 
for  the  ideal  of  freedom,  of  self-development,  and 
nationality. 

The  Jewish  claim  to  Palestine  is  in  my  mind  over¬ 
whelming,  and,  as  a  British  Member  of  Parliament,  I 
rejoice  to  see  from  the  new  number  of  the  Zionist 
Review  what  an  overwhelming  mass  of  British  repre¬ 
sentative  opinion,  as  reflected  in  the  House  to  which  I 
belong,  is  in  support  of  this  movement.  One  other 
reason  for  which  I  support  this  movement :  I  support 
it  as  a  member  of  the  Church  of  England.  Sir  Mark 
Sykes  has  spoken  as  a  Roman  Catholic  principally. 
I  am  a  communicant  of  the  Church  of  England,  and 
in  this  return  to  Palestine  to  be  the  Jewish  horn©  I 
hold  out  the  hand  of  friendship  to  the  Zionists  who 
seek  to  bring  that  into  effect,  and  I  feel  that  behind 
it  there  is  the  finger  of  Almighty  God.  Another 
thing  I  should  like  to  say  and  that  is  that  from 
the  moment  that  I  met  the  Zionist  leaders,  whether 
in  Egypt  or  in  this  country — from  the  moment  of 
my  first  introduction  to  them  I  felt  that  there  was 
something  so  sincere,  something  so,  I  should  call  it, 
British — so  striking — that  at  once  my  heart  went 
out  to  them,  and  I  say  this,  that  you  have  as  your 
leader  in  this  country  in  Dr.  Weizmann  a  personality 


The  Great  Thanksgiving  Meeting  59 

and  a  statesman  who  has  shown  those  great  quali¬ 
ties  of  patience,  of  skill,  of  determination,  and  of 
intellect  which  have  endeared  him  to  everyone  who 
has  come  across  him.  I  have  done  what  little  I  can 
to  help  forward  this  movement  whenever  I  have  had 
the  opportunity.  In  the  future  if  you  are  looking 
out  for  friends  you  may  count  me  as  one  of  them. 
(Cheers.) 

Mr.  James  de  Rothschild,  who  was  received  with 
great  enthusiasm,  said  he  stood  there  as  the  son  of 
one  who  had  spent  his  life  in  endeavouring  to  bring 
about  what  they  were  celebrating  that  day.  Jewish 
ideals  up  to  that  time  had  been  met  at  the  gate,  but 
they  could  not  get  through.  With  one  stroke  of  the 
pen  the  English  Government  had  flung  open  those 
gates.  Therefore  in  every  Jewish  heart  gratitude 
was  overflowing,  and  they  must  not  forget  that  all 
their  aims  of  the  future  had  been  strengthened  by 
the  country  whose  Government  had  framed  the  gen¬ 
erous  and  just  Declaration.  (Cheers.) 

Dr.  C.  Weizmann,  President  of  the  English  Zion¬ 
ist  Federation,  upon  rising,  received  a  great  ovation. 
He  referred  to  the  many  good  and  brilliant  words 
which  had  been  said  about  the  Jews,  and  he  hoped 
that  the  Jews  of  to-day  and  the  Jews  of  to-morrow 
would  rise  to  the  occasion  in  the  needed  power  and 
the  dignity,  and  give  their  answer  to  the  great  resolu¬ 
tion,  not  only  in  words,  but  in  deeds.  The  present 
generation  had  upon  its  shoulders  the  greatest  re¬ 
sponsibility  of  the  last  2000  years,  and  he  prayed 
that  they  might  be  worthy  of  that  responsibility. 


60  Great  Britain,  Palestine  and  the  Jews 

He  then  called  upon  the  meeting  to  rise,  and  with 
hands  uplifted  to  take  the  old  historic  oath — each 
man  and  woman  of  them — Tft'  DX 

(“If  I  forget  thee,  O  Jerusalem,  may  my  right  hand 
forget  its  power”). 

The  meeting  rose  en  masse ,  repeating  the  words  of 
the  psalm  amid  great  enthusiasm,  which  culminated 
in  the  singing  of  “Hatikvah”  and  “God  Save  the 
King”  by  the  Precentors’  Association. 

OVERFLOW  MEETING 

An  overflow  meeting,  over  which  Mr.  P.  Horowitz 
presided,  was  held  in  the  Kingsway  Theatre,  which 
was  crowded  in  every  part.  Among  those  who  ad¬ 
dressed  the  audience  were  the  Chief  Rabbi,  Lord 
Lamington,  Mr.  I.  Zangwill,  Mr.  Joseph  Cowen, 
Dr.  Selig  Brodetsky,  Dr.  D.  Jochelman,  and  Mr. 
Israel  Cohen. 

A  resolution  in  identical  terms  with  that  carried 
at  the  London  Opera  House  was  passed  with  much 
enthusiasm. 

THE  DEMONSTRATION  IN  MANCHESTER 

A  striking  demonstration  was  held  on  Sunday, 
December  9,  1917,  in  the  Manchester  Hippodrome, 
which  was  crowded  with  an  enthusiastic  audience. 
Sir  Stuart  M.  Samuel,  Bart.,  President  of  the  Jewish 
Board  of  Deputies,  presided,  supported  by  all  the 
leading  Jewish  representatives  of  Manchester  and 


The  Demonstration  in  Manchester  61 

the  neighbouring  '  s*  and  by  a  large  number  of 
influential  non-Jewiss  zens,  including  the  Lord 
Mayor  of  Manchester  ?d  the  Mayor  of  Salford. 
The  proceedings  began  with  the  reading  by  Mr. 
Leon,  the  honorary  secretary,  of  letters  from  Lord 
Rothschild,  Lord  Robert  Cecil,  Mr.  Herbert  Samuel, 
M.P.,  the  Chief  Rabbi,  and  Mr.  Arthur  Hender¬ 
son,  M.P. 

Mr.  Henderson  wrote: 

By  its  Declaration  in  favour  of  the  establishment 
of  a  national  home  for  the  Jewish  people  in  Palestine, 
the  British  Government  has  vindicated  the  democratic 
claim  that  this  is  a  war  of  liberation  in  which  op¬ 
pressed  nationalities  will  find  deliverance.  The  Brit¬ 
ish  Labour  movement  has  included  among  its  war 
aims  a  demand  that  the  Jews  of  all  countries,  great 
and  small,  shall  enjoy  the  rare  elementary  rights  of 
tolerance,  freedom  of  residence  and  travel,  and  equal 
citizenship  that  ought  to  be  extended  to  all  the  in¬ 
habitants  of  every  nation;  and  it  has  also  declared 
its  belief  that  it  would  be  practicable  by  agreement 
among  all  the  nations  to  set  Palestine  free  from  the 
harsh  and  oppressive  government  of  the  Turk,  in  or¬ 
der  that  the  country  may  form  a  Free  State,  under 
international  guarantee,  where  the  Jewish  people 
may  work  out  their  own  salvation  free  from  inter¬ 
ference  by  those  of  alien  race  and  religion.  To  this 
policy  the  British  Government  and  people  are  now 
solemnly  pledged. 


'62  Great  Britain,  JV^stine  and  the  Jews 

>  »* 

Sir  Stuart  M.  Samu^  rising  to  speaks  had 
an  enthusiastic  reception  ^  Poking  towards  the 
Chanucah  light  just  kindh^  _e  said: 


My  Lord  Mayor,  this  candle  has  been  lighted  in 
Jewish  homes  for  the  last  5E000  years,  and  represents 
the  undying  flame  of  hope— the  characteristic  of  the 
Jewish  people  in  those  long  years  when  they  never 
lost  the  hope  that  one  day  the  Divine  promise  might 
be  fulfilled  before  their  eyes. 

Continuing,  Sir  Stuart  Samuel  said  that,  with  re¬ 
gard  to  the  Declaration  of  the  Government*  he 
thought  it  was  far  easier  to  return  Palestine  to  the 
Jews  than  for  the  Jews  to  return  to  Palestine. 
(Laughter.)  Jews  to  be  successful  in  Palestine  must 
be  united;  not  only  in  this  country,  but  throughout 
the  world  should  they  present  a  united  front,  for 
united  they  were  strong.  He  appealed  to  all  to  sink 
their  own  views  for  the  common  good.  The  wel¬ 
fare  of  their  brother- Jews  must  be  the  idea  that 
should  permeate  them  all.  Small  ideas  must  vanish 
for  the  welfare  of  the  whole.  After  centuries  of  wait¬ 
ing  progress  must  be  gradual ;  one  could  not  gamble 
when  the  fate  of  a  people  was  at  stake.  No  large  in¬ 
flux  of  population  must  go  forth  to  Palestine  till  it 
was  prepared  to  receive  them.  Jews  must  give  the 
same  religious  freedom  to  others  as  they  themselves 
expected.  They  should  hold  out  a  helping  hand  to 
other  nations  who  had  suffered;  firstly,  to  the  Ar¬ 
menians,  and  to  a  less  extent  the  Arabs  as  fellow- 
partners  in  misfortune,  and  show  them  that  Jews  de¬ 
sired  to  live  in  peace  and  amity  with  them.  Let 


The  Demonstration  in  Manchester  63 


Jews  always  remember  that  it  was  due  to  the  free¬ 
dom  enjoyed  in  this  blessed  country,  England,  that 
they  could  thus  hold  out  the  hope  of  brotherhood. 
Living  in  England,  they  could  realise  thoroughly  the 
gift  of  freedom.  To  sympathise  deeply,  one  must 
suffer  deeply.  The  cities  of  Palestine  wrould  be  as 
cities  of  refuge  to  the  persecuted  in  God’s  own  time 
and  bring  (Loud  applause.) 

The  Lord  Mayor  of  Manchester,  who  received 
an  ovation,  said  he  spoke  for  the  majority,  perhaps 
the  whole  of  his  fellow-citizens,  when  he  wished  them 
God-speed  in  their  movement.  He  had  many  good 
friends  among  the  Jews  in  Manchester,  and  looked 
upon  them  as  a  very  valuable  part  of  the  city  life. 
He  had,  as  it  were,  a  personal  interest  in  the  Zionist 
movement,  as  he  had  been  in  Palestine  and  was  now 
represented  there  by  a  son  who  was  in  the  British 
army.  The  world  owed  a  great  debt  to  the  Jews, 
who  had  held  up  that  great  idea  and  been  true  to  it 
through  torment  and  torture,  the  idea  of  again  ac¬ 
quiring  the  land  of  Palestine.  He  earnestly  hoped 
that  the  idea  would  be  realised,  and  it  was  best  real¬ 
ised  by  winning  this  war — (cheers) — by  destroying 
for  ever  German  militarism  and  by  crushing  it  with 
ferocity.  When  peace  at  length  came  then  the  vi¬ 
sion  of  the  prophet  Isaiah  would  be  realised.  (Ap¬ 
plause.) 

Sir  Mark  Sykes  said  that  since  Mr.  Balfour^  let¬ 
ter  to  Lord  Rothschild  testimony  had  come  from 
millions  of  Jews  all  over  the  world  that  the  mass  of 
Jewry  was  profoundly  moved.  Although  within  the 


64  Great  Britain,  Palestine  and  the  Jews 

two  thousand  years  past  Jewry  had  on  occasion 
been  moved  in  unison  it  had  always  before  been  on 
some  matter  of  grief  and  never  of  joy.  The  war  had 
been  fruitful  in  negatives,  but  here  was  a  great  posi¬ 
tive.  For  centuries  there  had  been  something  amiss 
with  civilisation.  Every  nation  and  every  continent 
had  had  its  Jewish  problem,  oppressive  laws,  Ghet¬ 
tos,  Pales;  here  Jews  were  proscribed  and  evicted, 
there  tolerated  and  assimilated,  and  between  the  two 
one  did  not  know  whether  the  first  was  not  the  bet¬ 
ter.  The  realisation  of  the  Zionist  ideal  was  the 
end  of  all  that.  Zionism  would  give  the  Jews  of  the 
world  a  higher  position  than  they  had  ever  held  be¬ 
fore.  Although  few  might  go  to  Palestine  in  pro¬ 
portion  to  those  who  remained  without,  the  latter 
would  not  suffer.  No  British  Jew  would  be  less 
British  because  he  could  look  at  the  cradle  of  his  race 
with  pride  and  at  the  religious  centre  of  his  faith 
with  happiness  and  reverence.  When  the  spiritual 
citizenship  was  clearly  and  nobly  defined  the  civic 
citizenship  would  be  higher  than  ever  before. 

But  there  were  practical  considerations.  He  re¬ 
garded  it  as  vital  for  the  success  of  the  Zionist  plan 
that  it  should  rest  upon  a  Jewish,  Armenian,  and 
Arab  entente .  The  Armenian  was  one  of  an  op¬ 
pressed  people,  and  until  he  could  live  his  life  and 
realise  his  national  aspirations  the  Jews  could  have 
no  guarantee  that  the  tyranny  which  fell  upon  him 
would  not  fall  upon  them.  We  had  been  told  that 
the  Turk  had  tolerated  the  Jew.  It  was  because 
in  Turkey  the  Jews  had  not  been  a  political  element, 
and  had  had  no  agrarian  population.  The  day  that 
Zionism  was  realised  they  were  land-holders,  and  be- 


The  Demonstration  in  Manchester  65 

came  to  the  Turk  the  same  as  the  Bulgar,  the  Serb, 
the  Greek,  the  Armenian,  the  Arab.  Until  they  had 
liberated  the  Armenians  they  could  not  be  se¬ 
cure;  they  must  have  between  themselves  and  their 
possible  aggressor  a  stable,  progressive  Armenian 
state. 

When  he  spoke  of  the  Arabs  he  entered  into  no 
nice  distinctions.  He  referred  to  those  in  Asia  who 
were  one  in  language  and  in  blood.  By  environment 
they  were  called  Syrians,  Mesopotamians,  Mosulis, 
Aleppines ;  by  religion  they  were  called  Christians, 
Mussulmans,  Druses,  Mitawelis,  Ansaries;  in  blood, 
there  was  on  the  male  side  a  little  infusion  in  Syria 
of  the  Crusader,  and  in  Mesopotamia  of  Turanian 
and  Iranian,  but  scientists  would  call  these  only 
traces.  Eighty-five  per  cent,  of  the  stock  was  Se¬ 
mitic.  For  800  years  the  Arabs  had  been  under  Turk¬ 
ish  dynasties.  Their  canals  of  Mesopotamia  had 
been  ruined,  and  when  Vasco  da  Gama  rounded  the 
Cape  he  cut  them  ofr  from  European  commerce. 
They  were  bound,  impoverished,  divided  by  Turkish 
intrigue,  and  isolated  by  events.  Were  they  dead? 
Never.  “You  know  the  Semite  sleeps  but  never 
dies.”  (Loud  cheers.)  Wherever  there  were  men 
of  Arab  stock,  whether  in  Nigeria  or  Chicago,  Java 
or  Manchester,  one  would  find  progressive  people 
who  took  interest  in  art,  in  literature,  in  philosophy, 
and  had  a  high  place  in  commerce.  The  Arabs  of 
to-day  had  the  same  vitality  and  capacity  as  the 
Arabs  who  under  the  Ommayads  carried  civilisation 
from  Damascus  to  Cordova  in  Spain,  and  from  Bas¬ 
ra  to  the  wild  steppes  of  Austral  Asia;  as  the  Ab- 


66  Great  Britain,  Palestine  and  the  Jews 

bassids  who  spread  literature  and  art  from  Bagdad 
to  the  whole  civilised  world. 

To-day  the  Arabs  were  pre-nationalist.  They 
were  one  in  blood  and  in  tongue.  There  were  seven 
or  eight  millions  of  them ;  they  were  prolific.  There 
was  a  combination  of  man-power,  virgin  soil,  petro¬ 
leum,  and  brains.  What  was  that  going  to  produce 
in  1950?  The  inevitable  result  was  that  the  seven 
or  eight  millions  would  turn  to  SO  millions ;  the  Meso¬ 
potamian  canal  system  would  be  reconstructed ; 
Syria  must  become  the  granary  of  Europe ;  Bagdad, 
Damascus,  and  Aleppo  would  be  each  as  big  afs 
Manchester;  universities  and  a  great  Press  must 
arise. 

Arab  civilisation  was  coming  there;  no  Sultan  or 
Kaiser  could  prevent  it,  and  when  it  came  no  im¬ 
perialists  and  financiers  would  be  able  to  control  it. 
It  was  the  destiny  of  the  Jews  to  be  closely  connected 
with  the  Arab  revival,  and  co-operation  and  goodwill 
from  the  first  were  necessary,  or  ultimate  disaster 
would  overtake  both  Jew  and  Arab.  Therefore  he 
warned  the  Jews  to  look  through  Arab  glasses. 
(Cries  of  66 We  will,  we  will!”) 

What  did  the  Arab  fear?  He  feared  financial  cor¬ 
porations,  pivoted  on  Palestine,  controlling  Syria 
and  Mesopotamia.  He  feared  the  soil  of  Palestine 
would  be  bought  by  companies,  and  that  he  would 
become  a  proletariat  working  on  the  soil  for  alien 
masters.  He  feared  the  Palestinian  colonists  might 
drop  their  colonies  and  drift  into  Syria  and  Meso¬ 
potamia  as  middlemen  and  crush  him  out  of  exist¬ 
ence.  It  was  essential  that  Zionists  should  realise 
and  face  these  dangers.  He  dared  say  these  things 


The  Demonstration  in  Manchester  67 


because  he  believed  in  Zionism,  and  knew*  that  it 
was  idealistic  and  not  a  financial  manoeuvre.  (Loud 
cheers.)  The  Arabs  should  understand  that  the 
Jews  sought  no  land  not  willingly  sold ;  that  all  land 
so  purchased  would  only  be  developed  through  Jew¬ 
ish  labour — (loud  cheers);  that  the  colonists  would 
be  bona  'fide  colonists,  and  that  the  Jews  were  out 
to  win  Palestine,  not  by  financial  manoeuvres,  but 
by  the  sweat  of  their  brow.  (Prolonged  cheering, 
many  rising  to  their  feet.)  The  co-operation  of  the 
two  races  offered  such  prospects  to  mankind;  hostil¬ 
ity  would  mean  such  an  unthinkable  tragedy  that  he 
felt  it  his  duty  to  give  the  warning. 

A  second  warning  that  he  would  offer  was  that 
Zionists  should  remember  that  Jerusalem  was  a 
triple  shrine,  sacred  to  Christian,  Jew,  and  Moslem 
alike,  because  he  as  a  Catholic  had  kissed  the  stone 
of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  and  knew  something  of  what 
the  Moslem  felt  in  regard  to  the  Mosque  of  Omar 
and  something  of  what  the  Jew  felt  when  he  laid  his 
hand  on  the  stones  of  the  Wailing  Place.  Jerusalem 
throbbed  with  history;  it  was  inflammable  ground, 
and  a  careless  word  or  gesture  might  set  half  a  con¬ 
tinent  aflame.  Jewish  policy  would  not  be  realised 
by  diplomacy,  tact,  delicacy,  or  the  virtues  of  the 
drawing-room  politician.  Jerusalem  called  for  more 
than  that.  It  did  not  call  for  toleration,  but  for 
sympathy,  understanding,  compassion,  sacrifice — 
“sympathy  with  the  Moslem,  to  whom  the  Mosque 
of  Omar  is  the  most  sacred  spot  on  earth ;  under¬ 
standing  the  Christian,  who,  like  myself,  feels  that  m 
helping  Zionism  he  is  doing  something  to  make  a 
great  amend.  Sacrifice  all  sense  of  triumph,  of  old 


68  Great  Britain,  Palestine  and  the  Jews 

memories  of  ancient  wrong.  Approach  it  not  in  a 
spirit  of  toleration,  but  of  brotherhood  and  af¬ 
fection.” 

He  believed  that,  approached  in  the  right  spirit, 
Zionism  would  be  the  cause  of  a  great  reconciliation, 
not  of  fusion,  but  good  fellowship  between  members 
of  three  faiths  of  common  origin.  Misused  it  would 
be  the  beginning  of  bitterer  strife  than  ever  the 
world  had  known.  Timidity  was  the  road  to  ruin ; 
let  them  face  facts  boldly.  In  the  realisation  of 
their  ideal  he  saw  security  for  the  world’s  peace. 
He  saw  them  co-operating  as  the  moral  guarantors 
and  protectors  of  small  States,  being  perhaps  the 
smallest  and  the  greatest  at  the  same  time.  He  saw 
them  healing  the  religious  distractions  which  had 
severed  the  best  from  the  best  throughout  the  ages. 
In  Jerusalem  there  would  be  a  great  vital  heart, 
healing  the  scars  of  Europe  and  calling  Asia  once 
more  back  to  life.  (Prolonged  cheers,  the  audience 
rising  repeatedly.) 

Mr.  James  de  Rothschild  said  the  British  Gov¬ 
ernment,  representing  without  any  doubt  the  voice 
of  an  enlightened  and  large-hearted  democracy,  had 
ratified  the  Zionist  scheme.  What  was  wanted  from 
the  Jewish  people  was  no  longer  schemes,  but  deeds, 
and  he  hoped  that  in  the  near  future  cohorts  of 
modem  Maccabees  would  be  fighting  their  way 
through  the  hills  of  Judaea.  (Cheers.)  The  Jewish 
claim  was  one  for  justice,  and  that  also  was  the  ba¬ 
sis  of  the  claims  of  the  Arabs  and  Armenians,  claims 
which  Jews  fully  endorsed  and  were  pledged  to  sup¬ 
port.  Britain  stood  as  the  foster-mother  of  the 


The  Demonstration  in  Manchester  69 


new-born  Jewish  nation,  and  he  looked  forward  to 
the  day  when  that  nation,  steeled  in  adversity  but 
proud  in  hope,  had  proved  itself  by  dint  of  its  work 
to  be  a  real  daughter. 

Mr.  Joseph  Cowen,  who  was  received  with  cheers, 
said  the  Declaration  was  Restoration;  it  was,  per¬ 
haps,  the  one  thing  which,  say  500  years  hence, 
would  be  singled  out  as  the  most  historic  act  of  this 
world-war;  it  seemed  so  transcendentally  important 
not  only  to  Jews,  but  likewise  to  the  world.  Jews 
must  not  always  be  dreamers.  They  had  already 
begun  some  pioneer  work  in  Palestine,  and  in  time 
would  be  proud  of  their  colonists.  On  what  they  ac¬ 
complished  during  the  next  twenty  years  depended 
the  verdict  of  the  world.  He  believed  they  would  rise 
to  the  cause,  their  men  and  their  women  with  their 
heart  in  the  good  work.  (Loud  cheers.) 

Dr.  Weizmann,  who  was  received  with  loud  and 
long-sustained  applause,  said: 

I  desire  to  associate  myself  on  behalf  of  the  or¬ 
ganisation  which  I  have  the  honour  to  represent, 
the  English  Zionist  Federation,  with  the  sincere  re¬ 
gard  which  is  tendered  by  this  great  city  to  His 
Majesty’s  Government.  As  one  who  had  the  privi¬ 
lege  of  contributing  somewhat  to  the  negotiations 
with  that  Government  I  can  realise  the  spirit  in 
which  this  Declaration  has  been  granted  to  us.  The 
friendliness,  the  understanding  of  and  sympathy 
with  our  cause  as  shown  by  the  statesmen  who  rule 
the  destinies  of  England,  would,  if  it  were  known, 


70  Great  Britain,  Palestine  and  the  Jews 


be  regarded  as  a  source  of  the  greatest  comfort  to 
Jews  all  over  the  world.  Moreover,  not  only  has 
the  Government  granted  us  this  Declaration,  but  it 
means  to  put  it  into  effect  as  soon  as  possible.  I 
hope  that  when  the  military  position  will  allow  it,  a 
Commission  of  Zionist  Jews  will  go  out  to  Palestine 
for  two  great  purposes.  The  first  and  immediate 
purpose  will  be  to  grant  relief  and  to  heal  the 
wounds  which  have  been  produced  by  the  devasta¬ 
tions  of  war.  The  distress  in  Palestine  is  great,  and 
relief  is  needed  immediately.  We  have  done  what 
we  could  do  at  present,  but  much  more  has  to  be 
done  in  the  immediate  future,  and  that  will  be  one 
of  the  objects  of  the  Commission. 

The  second  and  perhaps  more  difficult  task  will  be 
to  form  plans  and  opinions  for  setting  about  the 
difficult  task  of  colonising  and  rejuvenating  the  old 
country.  In  this  mood  of  festivity  in  which  you  now 
are,  I  would  also  like  to  utter  a  word  of  warning. 
An  ancient  and  experienced  people  will  prove  their 
wisdom  by  restraining  themselves  at  the  right  time. 
Let  us  all  remember  that  the  building  of  Palestine  is 
a  slow,  gradual  and  laborious  process,  which  will  tax 
heavily  our  resources  and  our  patience.  Catch¬ 
words  such  as  44 We  must  have  a  Jewish  state  at 
once,”  will  do  us  a  great  deal  of  harm.  We  cannot 
have  masses  of  immigrants  streaming  into  Palestine 
before  the  country  is  ready  to  receive  them.  I  am 
fearing  such  a  contingency  much  more  than  any 
opposition  which  is  at  present  shown  to  Zionism. 
We  must  never  be  afraid  of  our  opponents.  I  am 
frightened  sometimes  by  the  zeal  of  some  of  our 
friends. 


The  Demonstration  in  Manchester  71 


Many  a  warning  has  been  given  to  us  to-night; 
these  warnings  were  grave,  wise,  and  important ;  they 
are  the  more  significant  as  they  come  from  the  man 
who  has  been  instrumental  more  than  anybody  else 
in  bringing  about  the  Government’s  Declaration. 
He  has  styled  himself  to-night  the  pilot,  and  indeed 
he  was,  is,  and  I  hope  will  be  still  for  a  long  time  a 
great  pilot  to  us.  But  may  I  be  permitted  to  state 
that  I  was  listening  to  some  of  these  warnings  with 
a  certain  sense  of  astonishment  and  humiliation,  be¬ 
cause  it  seemed  to  me  that  they  were  not  altogether 
necessary,  at  least  as  far  as  Zionists  are  concerned. 
Why,  it  is  the  very  essence  of  Zionism  not  to  do 
those  three  things  against  which  Sir  Mark  Sykes  has 
warned  us.  Have  not  we  Zionists,  as  members  of  a 
democratic  movement,  fought  constantly  against 
these  so-called  international  Jewish  financial  specu¬ 
lators?  This  type  of  Jew  has  always  been  the  im¬ 
placable  enemy  of  Zionism.  From  where  has  the  op¬ 
position  to  Zionism  been  recruited?  It  has  not  come 
from  the  Ghettos  where  Jewish  traditions  are  still 
alive.  It  has  not  come  from  those  who  are  ready  to 
go  and  settle  on  the  land.  The  opposition  to  Zion¬ 
ism  comes  chiefly  from  the  so-called  cosmopolitan 
Jew  for  whose  doings  and  dealings  we  decline  with 
scorn  all  responsibility.  I  think  there  is  no  danger 
of  them  catching  the  first  train  for  Jerusalem. 
(Laughter.) 

It  is  a  truism  to  Zionists  that  as  long  as  the  land 
is  bought  by  Jews  and  not  worked  by  Jews  it  is  not 
Jewish  land.  (Applause.)  The  land  becomes  Jew¬ 
ish  not  through  the  act  of  buying  it  but  through 
the  act  of  holding  and  working  it.  Among  the  many 


72  Great  Britain,  Palestine  and  the  Jews 

colonies  which  we  have  in  Palestine,  there  is  one, 
perhaps  the  least  imposing,  perhaps  the  least  con¬ 
spicuous.  The  name  of  this  colony  is  Chedera,  but 
it  is  the  most  Jewish  of  all  the  colonies.  And  why? 
The  answer  to  this  question  is  written  in  the  ceme¬ 
tery  of  Chedera,  where  generation  after  generation 
have  laid  down  their  lives  because  they  preferred  to 
work  on  the  soil  and  be  stricken  with  fever,  rather 
than  desert  and  leave  the  work  to  others.  And  this 
is  why  the  colony  has  become  the  most  Jewish  of 
them  all. 

For  the  last  ten  years  of  our  colonising  activity 
there  has  been  an  increasing  tendency  to  replace  sys¬ 
tematically  and  sometimes  at  considerable  economic 
disadvantage  Arab  labour  by  Jewish  labour,  and 
I  would  ask  the  Arabs  to  remember  if  we  do  it,  it 
is  not  because  we  are  against  the  Arabs,  but  be¬ 
cause  we  desire  to  heed  the  warning  of  which  Sir 
Mark  Sykes  spoke  to-night,  and  really  make  the 
country  Jewish.  We  want  the  colonies  to  be  Jew¬ 
ish  and  to  be  worked  by  Jews,  and  I  beg  of  our 
friends  the  Arabs  to  understand  that  it  is  an  ele¬ 
mentary  postulate  for  those  who  desire  to  build  up 
a  Jewish  country  that  this  should  be  done  by  Jewish 
labour  and  by  Jewish  intellect,  and  not  only  by  Jew¬ 
ish  finance.  It  may  all  be  very  hard  work,  but  every 
process  of  construction  is  a  difficult  one. 

Another  warning  has  been  given  to  us  to-night — 
you  Jews  try  and  be  united.  Of  course  we  under¬ 
stand  the  absolute  necessity  of  unity,  and  for  years 
we  have  been  organising  and  consolidating  Jewry, 
and  I  think  we  are  able  to  point  to  notable  achieve¬ 
ments  in  that  direction.  It  is  difficult,  nay  impossi- 


The  Demonstration  in  Manchester  78 


ble,  for  the  Jewish  people,  dispersed  as  it  is  among 
all  the  peoples  of  the  world,  to  show  the  same  as¬ 
pects  of  unity  as  a  normal  European  nation  does ; 
but  may  I  remind  you  all  that  very  often  Jews  are 
reproached  for  being  too  united — the  so-called  Jew¬ 
ish  solidarity  has  always  been  a  beam  in  the  eyes 
of  our  enemies. 

We  are  further  asked  to  understand  and  to  re¬ 
spect  others.  Who  could  understand  and  respect 
others  better  than  the  Jews,  who  have  suffered  so 
much  and  so  long  from  lack  of  being  understood? 
Don’t  we  try  to  understand  constantly,  and  have  we 
not  suffered  from  the  fact  that  we  have  been  mis¬ 
understood?  How  has  the  world  treated  the  Jews? 
It  has  been  either  philo-Semitic  or  anti-  Semitic,  both 
equally  despicable.  We  don’t  desire  to  be  particu¬ 
larly  loved  and  patronised,  and  don’t  wish  to  be  an 
object  of  hatred.  We  wish  to  be  taken  just  as 
we  are,  with  all  our  faults  and  all  our  qualities,  just 
as  we  try  to  take  others.  Here  we  are,  just  oews 
and  nothing  else,  a  nation  among  nations;  cake  it 
or  leave  it.  All  these  are  the  very  essence  of  Jew¬ 
ish  nationalism  and  Zionism,  and  if  the  improbable 
should  happen  that  some  of  us  should  forget  them 
for  a  moment,  we  shall  be  quickly  enough  reminded 
of  them  by  our  enemies. 

We  are  living  through  a  great  event,  an  event 
which  imposes  on  us  a  tremendous  responsibility. 
Every  act  we  shall  be  performing  will  be  watched 
and  scrutinised,  and  all  our  mistakes  will  be  mag¬ 
nified  and  placed  in  the  forefront.  Therefore  we 
must  try  to  do  our  utmost  to  perform  all  our  tasks 
perfectly.  We  must  double  and  treble  our  energies. 


74  Great  Britain,  Palestine  and  the  Jews 

All  that  we  have  done  hitherto  is  only  the  beginning ; 
the  difficulties  are  still  in  front  of  us.  For  that 
purpose  we  must  unite  and  combine  our  forces  and 
leave  our  opponents  strictly  alone.  We  are  not 
anxious  for  their  help  and  we  are  not  frightened  by 
their  opposition.  If  the  non-Zionists  come  to  us 
they  will  always  be  welcome;  if  they  stay  away  we 
shall  not  blame  them — under  one  condition,  that  they 
do  not  interfere  with  us.  (Applause.) 

What  we  do  we  shall  do  on  our  responsibility, 
and  I  think  we  are  grown  up  enough  to  take  this 
responsibility  on  our  shoulders.  Non-Zionists  or 
anti-Zionists  must  not  be  frightened  that  they  may 
be  blamed  for  our  faults;  we  shall  take  the  blame 
ourselves,  but  also  the  credit.  For  those  who  want 
to  come  to  us  we  shall  build  a  golden  bridge,  we 
shall  meet  them  halfway,  we  shall  ask  them  to  co- 
operate  on  those  practical  problems  on  which  we 
can  co-operate  without  sacrificing  the  fundamental 
principles  of  the  movement.  When  the  day  comes 
for  the  building  and  construction  of  Palestine  to 
begin,  one  of  our  most  important  tasks  will  be  to  set 
our  accounts  right  with  our  neighbours,  the  Arabs 
and  the  Armenians.  We  cannot  live  in  harmony  with 
them  otherwise.  That  is  the  forceful  logic  of  the 
events.  There  is  enough  air  and  land  and  water  in 
Palestine  for  everybody  to  live  on. 

We  all  hope  and  believe  that  out  of  this  welter 
of  blood  and  destruction  a  better  world  will  arise. 
If  misunderstanding  existed  in  the  past  between  Ar¬ 
abs  and  Jews  we  have  not  created  them;  they  have 
been  created  by  those  who  were  the  masters  of  Pal¬ 
estine,  by  the  deadening  hand  of  the  Turk,  who  can 


The  Demonstration  in  Manchester  75 


only  rule  over  his  empire  by  playing  off  one  part  of 
the  population  against  the  other.  All  that,  we  hope, 
will  disappear  now.  Is  it  not  imperative,  is  it  not 
logical,  that  we  who  have  suffered  so  much  from 
physical  force  should  try  and  reconstitute  in  Pales¬ 
tine  an  age  of  justice  and  right  for  everybody?  It 
is  strange  indeed  to  hear  the  fear  expressed  that  the 
Jew  in  Palestine  may  become  an  aggressor,  that  the 
Jew  who  has  been  always  the  victim,  the  Jew  who 
has  always  fought  the  battle  of  freedom  for  others, 
should  suddenly  become  an  aggressor  because  he 
touches  Palestinian  soil.  Has  the  world  forgotten 
that  on  this  very  Palestinian  soil  the  Jewish  genius 
gave  birth  to  the  social  code  which  has  become  the 
foundation  of  modern  civilisation?  Peace  will,  wre 
fervently  believe,  reign  in  Palestine,  and  the  Word 
of  God  will  come  forth  from  Zion  as  of  old.  In  a 
world  without  artificial  frontiers  and  Krupp  guns, 
with  different  nationalities  living  side  by  side  peace¬ 
fully,  working  and  labouring  for  the  new  civilisa¬ 
tion  that  will  emerge  out  of  this  war,  the  Jew  will 
take  up  again  his  rightful  place. 

The  Palestine  which  we  expect  to  build  up  is  not 
going  to  be  a  mere  copy  of  what  exists  already  in 
the  world — it  is  going  to  be  better.  It  will  not  neces¬ 
sarily  be  a  copy  of  Switzerland  or  Belgium — it  is  no 
use  multiplying  copies.  It  is  going  to  be  something 
which  will  spring  out  of  the  Jewish  soil,  out  of  the 
Jewish  soul,  out  of  the  Jewish  genius.  We  shall  util¬ 
ise  the  accumulated  experience  of  thousands  of  years 
of  suffering.  That  is  the  ideal  we  have  before  us, 
for  which  we  live  and  labour,  and  this  ideal  excludes 
aggression,  excludes  animosity  towards  those  with 


76  Great  Britain,  Palestine  and  the  Jews 

whom  we  are  bound  to  work  and  live.  (Prolonged 
cheers.) 

Mr.  N.  Sokolow  said: 

For  us  Zionists — for  I  have  the  honour  to  speak 
to  you  in  the  name  of  the  Zionist  Organisation — it 
has  always  been  one  of  the  most  important  points 
in  our  Zionist  programme  to  get  publicly  recognised 
and  full  political  security  for  what  we  are  going  to 
build  up  in  Palestine,  in  order  that  we  may  build  on 
sound  foundations.  It  is  true  that  we  did  not  wait 
in  a  state  of  passivity;  we  started  our  work  even 
before  we  had  got  these  international  securities.  We 
worked  to  the  utmost  of  our  powers,  and  we  suc¬ 
ceeded  in  creating  in  Palestine  a  nucleus  of  modern 
agricultural  colonisation,  a  work  in  which  we  were 
generously  helped  by  that  great  man  whose  son  was 
hailed  by  you  with  so  much  enthusiasm  and  grati¬ 
tude.  (Applause.)  Still,  the  security  was  missing. 
Now  we  hope  to  receive  the  essential,  the  most  es¬ 
sential  part  of  political  security  and  self-govern¬ 
ment  under  this  Declaration,  from  the  greatest 
Power  of  the  world,  which  is  to  decide  the  fate  of 
Palestine — the  Power  which  has  been  for  centuries 
the  shield  and  the  rock  of  freedom  and  justice,  and 
the  school  for  colonisation  and  for  a  true  and  just 
management  of  its  colonies.  In  welcoming  the  Dec¬ 
laration  we  are  loyal  and  faithful  to  our  programme 
which  we  proclaimed  more  than  twenty  years  ago 
at  our  first  Conference  in  Basle.  That  principle  of 
political  security  and  self-government  is  essential 
for  the  success  and  realisation  of  our  work  in  Pales- 


The  Demonstration  in  Manchester  77 


tine,  and  therefore  we  Zionists  are  overcome  with  joy 
at  this  solemn  hour,  receiving  a  considerable  part  of 
what  we  claimed  in  the  shape  of  the  Declaration  of 
His  Majesty’s  Government.  (Applause.) 

But  it  is  not  only  the  Jewish  people  who  remained 
faithful  to  its  traditions  in  receiving  this  Declara¬ 
tion  ;  Great  Britain  in  giving  it  has  also  proved  once 
more  her  good  faith.  This  Declaration  is  a  continu¬ 
ation,  even  more  a  crowning,  of  all  that  Britain  has 
done  for  the  Jews  during  generations  un  il  the  pres¬ 
ent  day.  (Applause.)  When  the  Jews  were  expelled 
from  Spain  in  1492,  and  from  Portugal  in  1552, 
some  of  them  came  to  Holland,  and  one  of  the  Jewish 
Rabbis  of  Amsterdam  came  in  1655  to  this  country 
and  stood  before  Cromwell.  He  presented  Crom¬ 
well  with  the  petition  for  the  readmission  of  the  Jews 
to  this  country,  using  mainly  motives  of  a  rather 
Zionistic  character.  The  readmission  of  the  Jews  to 
this  country  was  the  first  great  act  of  justice  done 
by  England  to  the  Jews.  It  is  rather  historic  that 
the  Jewish  people  should  now  give  an  expression  of 
their  deep  gratitude  to  this  great  nation  of  Britain. 
And  I  think,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  that  the  friend¬ 
ship  of  the  Jewish  people  is  worth  having.  (Ap¬ 
plause.  ) 

You  have  heard  some  references  to  the  rejoicings 
that  are  now  going  on,  but  these  are  but  a  very  small 
part  of  what  is  transpiring  at  the  present  moment 
throughout  Jewry  in  all  the  countries  of  the  world. 
It  is  a  wave  not  only  of  enthusiasm,  not  only  of 
gratitude,  but  of  deep  consciousness,  because  the 
Jewish  people  are  conscious  of  their  responsibility 
for  the  actions  they  are  about  to  undertake,  and  in 


78  Great  Britain,  Palestine  and  the  Jews 

view  of  the  new  chapter  which  is  opening  in  Jewish 
history,  a  chapter  which  has  to  be  written  by  the 
Jews  all  over  the  world.  Not  only  the  Zionists 
among  the  Jews,  but  the  whole  Jewish  people  is  pene¬ 
trated  with  the  deepest  feeling  of  responsibility  for 
what  is  about  to  happen.  You  will  have  realised 
already  that  the  Jews  in  Russia  are  perhaps  the 
most  pronounced  friends  of  England.  Why  are 
they  the  friends  of  England?  Not  only  because 
England  has  granted  so  great  a  boon  to  the 
Jewish  people,  but  because  they  know  what  the 
right  of  a  nation  means,  and  because  they  are  aware 
of  the  high  ideals  for  which  England  is  fighting. 
They  know  that  England  is  the  main  propulsive 
force  of  the  world’s  destiny,  and  that  the  diffusion 
of  her  spirit  is  the  most  valuable  promise  of  true 
peace.  They  know  that  there  is  no  free  people  to¬ 
day  that  has  not  fed  from  Great  Britain’s  experience 
and  copied  her  institutions.  England  has  been  and 
still  is  more  than  any  other  nation  attached  to  our 
Bible.  Now,  by  this  Declaration  England  has 
played  a  role  that  is  truly  biblical.  (Applause.) 

We  appreciate  deeply  the  important  remarks  of- 
fe  ed  by  our  distinguished  friend  Sir  Mark  Sykes  on 
the  subject  of  the  relations  between  the  Jews,  the 
Arabs,  and  the  Armenians.  My  reply  to  these  re¬ 
marks  is :  We  are  Zionists — not  only  Zionists  for 
ourselves,  but  also  for  the  Arabs  and  the  Armenians 
as  well.  Zionism  means  faithfulness  to  one’s  own 
old  country,  to  one’s  own  old  home.  Zionism  means 
consciousness  of  a  nation.  Can  we  Jews  be  ignorant 
of  the  fact  that  the  Arab  nation  is  a  noble  nation 
which  has  been  persecuted?  Is  not  the  co-operation 


The  Demonstration  in  Manchester  79 


between  the  Arabs  and  ourselves,  the  Jews,  in  the 
Middle  Ages  for  civilisation  and  for  true  culture 
written  in  our  hearts  and  deep-rooted  in  our  con¬ 
science?  Our  membership  of  the  Semitic  race,  our 
title  to  a  place  in  the  civilisation  of  the  world  and 
to  influence  the  world  and  take  our  share  in  the  de¬ 
velopment  of  civilisation,  have  always  been  empha¬ 
sised.  If  racial  kinship  really  counts,  if  great  asso¬ 
ciations  exist  which  must  serve  as  a  foundation  for 
the  future,  these  associations  exist  between  us  and 
the  Arabs.  I  believe  in  the  logic  of  these  facts.  In 
the  principle  of  nationality  lies  the  certainty  of  our 
justice.  There  lies  also  the  certainty  of  our  brother¬ 
hood  with  the  Arabs  and  the  Armenians.  We  look 
most  hopefulty  to  the  happy  days  when  these  three 
nations  will  create — in  fact  they  have  already  created 
in  the  consciousness  of  some  of  their  leaders — an 
entente  cordiale  in  the  countries  of  the  Near  East 
which  have  been  neglected  for  so  long. 

We  are  not  going  to  take  away  anybody’s  prop¬ 
erty  or  to  prejudice  anybody’s  rights.  We  are  go¬ 
ing  to  find  the  land  which  is  available  and  to  settle 
down  wherever  there  is  room,  and  to  live  in  the  best 
relations  with  our  neighbours — to  live  and  to  let  the 
others  live.  Palestine  is  not  yet  a  populated,  civi¬ 
lised,  prosperous  country.  We  are  going  to  make 
it  so  by  investing  our  means,  our  energies,  and  our 
intelligence.  I  was  glad  to  hear  that  some  of  your 
speakers  had  been  to  Palestine.  They  have  seen  how 
the  country  looks.  You  may  have  read  in  The  Times 
that  one  of  its  correspondents  described  the  hills  of 
Judsea  as  roadless,  barren  hills.  But  they  were  not 
always  roadless  and  barren.  In  old  times  these  hills 


$0  Great  Britain,  Palestine  and  the  Jews 


were  covered  with  terraces.  Now  the  Jews  have 
again  gone  there  and  have  rebuilt  some  of  these  ter¬ 
races.  If  there  is  anything  left  of  civilisation,  of 
modern  agriculture,  and  of  industry  in  the  country 
it  is  due  to  the  efforts  of  that  handful  of  Jewish  set¬ 
tlers  working  under  the  most  difficult  conditions. 

I  would  like  to  say  also  a  few  words  on  the  relig¬ 
ious  question.  I  had  the  honour  to  speak  on  this 
question  to  some  representatives  of  the  Church  of 
England  and  to  the  head  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church,  the  Pope.  (Applause.)  I  made  to  them  a 
statement,  which  I  can  repeat  to  you  here.  We 
Zionists  hate  the  word  toleration,  and  Sir  Mark 
Sykes  really  struck  the  very  point  when  he  con¬ 
demned  the  word.  We  don’t  like  mere  toleration  by 
non- Jews,  and  we  don’t  want  them  to  be  tolerated. 
We  know  that  Palestine  is  full  of  sanctuaries  and 
of  holy  places,  holy  to  the  Christian  world,  holy  to 
Islam,  holy  to  ourselves.  Are  we  blind  not  to  see 
that  there  are  these  places  of  worship  and  of  ven¬ 
eration?  Palestine  is  the  very  place  where  religious 
conflicts  should  disappear.  There  we  should  meet  as 
brethren,  and  there  wTe  should  learn  to  love  each 
other,  not  merely  to  tolerate  each  other.  (Applause.) 
I  declared  this  to  the  representatives  of  the  great 
Churches  and  I  can  repeat  it  here. 

M.  Sokolow  concluded  with  some  remarks  in  He¬ 
brew. 

The  Chairman  then  put  the  following  resolution, 
which  was  carried  with  acclamation: 


Demonstrations  in  America  81 

“Resolved  that  this  mass  meeting,  representing  all 
sections  of  the  Jewish  community  of  Manchester, 
conveys  to  His  Majesty’s  Government  an  expression 
of  heart-felt  gratitude  for  their  Declaration  in  fa¬ 
vour  of  the  establishment  in  Palestine  of  a  national 
home  for  the  Jewish  people. 

“It  assures  His  Majesty’s  Government  that  their 
historic  action  in  support  of  the  national  aspira¬ 
tions  of  the  Jewish  people  has  evoked  among  Jews 
the  most  profound  sentiments  of  joy.  This  meeting 
further  pledges  its  utmost  endeavours  to  give  its 
wholehearted  support  to  the  Zionist  cause.” 

In  addition  to  the  Jewish  demonstrations  m  Lon¬ 
don  and  Manchester,  enthusiastic  public  meetings, 
at  which  similar  resolutions  were  passed,  were  held 
in  most  of  the  Jewish  communities  in  the  United 
Kingdom. 

DEMONSTRATIONS  IN  AMERICA 

Thousands  of  New  York  Zionists  packed  the  Car¬ 
negie  Hall  at  a  commemoration  meeting.  Thou¬ 
sands  more  crowded  the  streets  around  the  building, 
unable  to  get  in,  until  long  after  the  beginning  of  the 
meeting.  The  United  States,  British,  and  Zionist 
flags,  intertwined,  were  hung  on  the  walls,  and  songs 
in  Hebrew  were  interspersed  between  the  speeches. 
The  leaders  of  the  Zionists  in  New  York  and  the 
Old  World  dwelt  on  the  significance  of  the  British 
victory. 


82  Great  Britain,  Palestine  and  the  Jews 

Dr.  Schmarya  Levin,  speaking  in  Yiddish,  de¬ 
clared  that  Great  Britain’s  promise  was  not  an  act 
of  politics  or  diplomacy,  but  something  far  deeper 
— a  stage  in  the  development  of  history,  which,  in 
effect,  added  another  chapter  to  the  Bible — a  mod¬ 
ern  chapter,  by  which  Jews  of  to-day  could  link 
something  of  their  own  time  to  the  story  of  the  old 
Jewish  kingdom.  Dr.  Levin  spoke  as  the  represen¬ 
tative  of  the  International  Zionist  Organisation. 
The  Rev.  Dr.  O.  A.  Glazebrook,  late  United  States 
Consul  at  Jerusalem,  declared:  It  is  the  duty  of 
every  Jew  who  loves  Palestine,  who  fosters  the  hope 
of  the  restoration  of  Israel,  to  use  his  influence,  his 
material  wealth,  and  his  life  to  see  that  England  and 
the  Allies  win  this  war.  We  have  seen,  Dr.  Glaze- 
brook  continued,  the  vision  of  the  restoration  of  the 
Jewish  people,  and  we  pray  that  this  vision  may  not 
be  spoiled  by  the  war,  but  may  be  crowned  by  the 
war  ending  gloriously  in  a  victory  for  the  Entente 
Powers.  If  Palestine  is  to  be  restored  to  Israel,  re¬ 
member  that  Palestine  and  Syria  must  remain  in  the 
hands  of  the  Allies,  and  our  most  important  lesson 
just  now,  more  important  than  the  immediate  work¬ 
ing  out  of  details  of  the  Zionistic  state,  is  that  you 
see  and  do  your  whole,  complete  duty  in  this  war 
— by  helping  to  secure  success  for  Britain,  France, 
Italy,  and  America. 

Dr.  Stephen  S.  Wise,  chairman  of  the  meeting, 
said  that  what  Zionists  were  rejoicing  over  was  only 
a  scrap  of  paper,  “but  that  scrap  of  paper  is  written 
in  English,  it  is  signed  by  the  British  Government, 
and  therefore  is  sacred  and  inviolable.” 


Demonstration  in  Russia 


83 


An  impressive  mass  meeting  was  held  at  Washing¬ 
ton  at  which  Christians  and  Jews  united  to  com¬ 
memorate  the  taking  of  Jerusalem  by  the  British. 
Notable  addresses  were  delivered  by  Dr.  Harding, 
Bishop  of  Washington,  Rabbi  Abram  Simon,  and 
Dr.  James  Montgomery. 

Rabbi  Simon  said:  As  one  of  the  household  of 
Israel  I  am  glad  to  be  with  you  and  rejoice  with  you 
to-day.  The  better  Christians  you  are  the  more  I 
love  you,  as  love  was  the  spirit  in  which  the  British 
entered  Jerusalem.  Instead  of  wild  hurrahs  the 
British  doffed  their  hats,  led  by  the  great  General, 
who  walked  humbly  on  foot.  How  different  from 
the  way  Germans  enter  any  city !  The  Welshmen 
and  Australians  who  led  the  line  cut  off  no  baby’s 
hands,  stabbed  or  ravaged  no  women,  tore  up  no 
agricultural  lands,  left  nothing  to  cause  shame,  but 
were  willing  to  allow  the  sunlight  of  their  great 
achievement  to  reflect  its  brilliancy  in  the  exhibition 
of  God’s  mercy. 

DEMONSTRATION  IN  RUSSIA 

The  Zionists  of  Odessa,  where  more  than  half  the 
population  is  Jewish,  organised  a  great  demonstra¬ 
tion  of  all  Jewish  organisations,  including  Jewish 
political  refugees  from  Rumania.  For  half  a  mile 
outside  the  Consulate  the  street  was  packed  by  a 
crowd  of  150,000  people,  and  a  procession  two  miles 


84  Great  Britain,  Palestine  and  the  Jews 

long  marched  past  the  Consulate  playing  British  and 
Jewish  National  Anthems. 

An  address  signed  by  the  chief  of  the  Zionist 
movement  in  Odessa  was  handed  to  the  British  Con¬ 
sul  with  the  request  that  he  would  express  to  his 
King,  Government,  and  nation  the  heartfelt  thanks 
of  all  the  Jews  of  Odessa.  The  appearance  of  the 
British  Consul  on  the  balcony  was  a  signal  for  pro¬ 
longed  and  repeated  cheers  for  the  British  King,  the 
British  Government,  and  the  British  people.  The 
Consul  having  thanked  them  in  a  short  speech  re¬ 
mained  on  the  balcony  for  two  hours  while  the  pro¬ 
cession  continued  to  march  past,  repeating  their 
National  Anthems  and  making  public  and  private 
expressions  of  their  deep  thanks  and  emotion  on 
hearing  England’s  message  of  goodwill.  After  leav¬ 
ing  the  British  Consulate  the  procession  proceeded 
to  the  American  Consulate,  where  similar  scenes  oc¬ 
curred.  On  the  following  day  a  deputation  of  Rab¬ 
bis  representing  fifty-eight  Odessa  synagogues,  to¬ 
gether  with  some  Vitkop  parishioners,  handed  the 
Consul  an  address  in  similar  terms  to  the  British 
people. 

DEMONSTRATION  IN  EGYPT 

A  mass  meeting,  called  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Central  Committee  of  the  Zionist  Organisation  of 
Egypt  and  organised  by  the  Zeire  Zion  Society  of 


85 


Demonstration  in  Egypt 

Alexandria,  was  attended  by  between  7000  and  8000 
people.  The  Governor  of  Alexandria  was  present. 
Twenty  different  organisations  and  institutions  were 
represented  by  delegates,  and  the  Chief  Rabbi  of 
Alexandria,  Professor  Della  Pergola,  also  attended. 

Extraordinary  enthusiasm  permeated  the  atmo¬ 
sphere  of  the  meeting.  It  was  decided  to  send  the 
following  telegram: 

“The  Right  Honourable  Lloyd  George,  Prime 
Minister,  Downing  Street,  London.  Mass  meeting 
of  8000  Jews  held  to-day  in  Alexandria  manifested 
indescribable  enthusiasm  during  reading  Mr.  Bal¬ 
four’s  Declaration,  and  expressed  its  deepest  grati¬ 
tude  to  His  Majesty’s  Government.  Jack  Mosseri, 
President,  Zionist  Organisation  of  Egypt.” 


PRESS  COMMENT 


PRESS  COMMENT 


All  Jewish  newspapers  in  Allied  and  neutral  coun¬ 
tries,  and,  to  a  certain  extent,  even  in  the  enemy 
countries,  have  welcomed  in  laudatory  terms  the 
British  Government’s  Declaration.  Even  papers  that 
were  formerly  opposed  to  the  Zionist  ideal  have  now 
assumed  a  friendly  attitude  in  view  of  the  inclusion 
of  this  ideal  among  England’s  war  aims.  The  fol¬ 
lowing  is  only  a  brief  selection  of  Press  opinions : 

The  Zionist  Review  (Special  Supplement),  Decem¬ 
ber,  1917 : 

The  Declaration  is,  first,  a  formal  public  recogni¬ 
tion  by  Great  Britain  (and  that  is  by  the  Allies) 
that  Israel  as  a  nation  lives  and  persists.  It  is,  sec¬ 
ond,  a  recognition  that  the  problem  of  the  Jewish 
nation  and  of  Judaism  can  be  solved  only  in  and 
through  a  Jewish  Palestine.  It  is,  third,  a  pledge 
that  the  peace  settlement  must  include  such  a  solu¬ 
tion  by  the  establishment  of  a  Jewish  national  home 
in  Palestine.  The  whole  Jewish  cause,  as  the  Jew¬ 
ish  people  have  lived  it  through  eighteen  hundred 
years  and  as  Zionists  have  expounded  it,  is  thus  em¬ 
bodied  in  the  common  law  of  humanity.  From  that, 
whatever  were  the  outcome  of  the  military  struggle, 

89 


90  Great  Britain,  Palestine  and  the  Jews 

nothing  henceforth  could  eliminate  it.  All  this  we 
owe  even  now  to  Great  Britain,  and  in  a  relatively 
few  months  we  shall  owe  the  full  redemption  of  what 
is  now  pledged,  the  realisation  in  act  of  what  is  now 
written. 

The  Jewish  Chronicle ,  November  19,  1917 : 

With  one  step  the  Jewish  cause  has  made  a  great 
bound  forward.  The  Declaration  of  his  Majesty’s 
Government  as  to  the  future  of  Palestine  in  relation 
to  the  Jewish  people  marks  a  new  epoch  for  our 
race.  For  the  British  Government,  in  accord — it  is 
without  doubt  to  be  assumed — with  the  rest  of  the 
Allies,  has  declared  itself  in  favour  of  the  setting  up 
in  Palestine  of  a  national  home  for  the  Jewish  peo¬ 
ple,  and  has  undertaken  to  use  its  best  endeavours  to 
facilitate  the  achievement  of  that  object.  Amidst 
all  that  is  so  dark  and  dismal  and  tragic  throughout 
the  world  there  has  thus  arisen  for  the  Jews  a  great 
light.  The  Declaration  of  the  Government,  which 
concedes  the  Zionist  position  in  principle,  must  have 
effects,  far-reaching  and  vital,  upon  the  future  of 
Jews  and  Judaism. 

The  Jewish  Express: 

It  is  a  colossal  event  in  Judaism,  a  new  epoch 
in  the  history  of  the  Jewish  people.  For  the  near¬ 
est  parallel  we  have  to  go  back  twenty-five  centuries, 
when  Cyrus,  the  King  of  Persia,  issued  a  proclama¬ 
tion  that  Jews  might  return  to  Judaea  to  re-establish 
their  national  home.  .  .  .  Whatever  the  outcome, 


Press  Comment 


91 


the  fact  itself — that  the  greatest  Power  in  the  world 
has  recognised  the  claim  of  the  Jewish  people  for 
its  old  homeland — marks  a  red-letter  day  in  Jewish 
history.  It  is  a  wonderful  phenomenon  for  anyone 
possessing  an  historic  sense.  .  .  .  But  the  event  pro¬ 
vokes  more  than  wonder;  it  will  fill  every  truly  Jew¬ 
ish  heart  with  delight,  for  it  opens  a  new  horizon  for 
the  future.  .  .  .  The  day  when  the  Declaration  was 
signed  on  behalf  of  the  Government  will  be  remem¬ 
bered  by  all  Jews  at  all  time  with  gratitude  and  re¬ 
spect  to  the  great  Power  that  had  the  sense  of  jus¬ 
tice  to  support  the  just  claim  of  a  long- wronged 
people.  Mingled  with  the  breathless  wonderment  is 
the  feeling  of  inexpressible  gratitude. 

The  Jewish  Times: 

A  thrill  of  joy  will  undoubtedly  run  through  the 
heart  of  national  Jewry  on  reading  the  great  news. 
It  will  be  a  source  of  inspiration  for  every  truly  Jew¬ 
ish  soul.  .  .  .  The  Declaration  may  rightly  be  re¬ 
garded  as  a  beginning  of  the  end  of  the  Jewish 
Goluth ,  the  beginning  of  the  solution  of  the  Jewish 
national  problem,  the  beginning  of  the  restoration 
of  the  Jews  to  Palestine.  .  .  .  Never  in  history  was 
such  an  assurance  given  to  the  Jewish  people. 

The  American  Jewish  Chronicle,  New  York: 

It  is  the  first  time  in  nearly  two  thousand  years 
of  our  Diaspora  that  a  Great  Power  has  publicly 
recognised  the  Jewish  nationality  and  its  right  to  a 
homeland.  .  .  .  It  is  by  no  means  pure  accident  that 


92  Great  Britain,  Palestine  and  the  Jews 

two  mighty  Anglo-Saxon  nations  and  Governments, 
Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  of  America, 
should  be  the  first  among  the  Great  Powers  to  rec¬ 
ognise  the  right  of  the  Jews  to  a  national  home¬ 
land  of  their  own,  and  thus  publicly  to  recognise  the 
nationality  of  the  Jews.  If  the  ancient  Jewish  mind, 
as  it  expressed  itself  in  the  Bible,  ever  influenced  a 
great  race  and  helped  to  shape  its  destinies  and  poli¬ 
cies,  it  was  the  Anglo-Saxon  race.  For  the  past 
400  years  the  greatest  production  of  Jewish  genius, 
the  Bible,  has  been  a  powerful  factor  in  the  life  of 
the  Anglo-Saxon  race,  and  as  soon  as  the  Anglo- 
Saxons  freed  themselves  from  medievalism  they  be¬ 
gan  to  treat  the  Jews  living  among  them  with  con¬ 
sideration  and  fairness,  even  before  they  were  offi¬ 
cially  emancipated. 

The  Jewish  Advocate ,  Boston: 

Whether  one  looks  at  this  wonderful  event  from  a 
religious  or  from  any  other  point  cf  view,  the  fact 
remains  the  same.  The  dream  of  ages,  cherished  in 
the  hearts  of  millions  of  people,  has  come  true.  .  .  . 
Now  all  Jews  are  Zionists. 

Hatoren  (Hebrew),  New  York: 

We  have  long  waited  for  such  a  Declaration,  and 
we  were  certain  that  it  must  come.  .  .  .  And  yet 
when  it  did  come,  and  we  read  it  and  re-read  it,  we 
felt  that  Divine  afflatus  of  the  soul,  and  a  spirit  of 
national  rejuvenation  has  filled  us  to  the  brim. 


Press  Comment 


93  * 


The  WaJirheit ,  New  York: 

Every  Zionist  victory  makes  clear  to  the  world 
that  only  those  are  entitled  to  speak  in  the  name  of 
the  Jewish  people  who  proclaim  our  nationality. 


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TRENCH  PICTURES  FROM  FRANCE  By  Major  William  Redmond ,  M.P. 

Biographical  Introduction  by  Miss  E.  M.  Srhith-Dampier 

A  glowing  book,  filled  with  a  deep  love  of  Ireland,  by  one  of  the  most 
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WOUNDED  AND  A  PRISONER  OF  ^fAR  By  an  Exchanged  Officer 

The  high  literary  merit,  studious  moderation  and  charming  personality 
of  the  author  make  this  thrilling  book  “the  most  damning  indictment  of 
Germany’s  inhumanity  that  has  yet  appeared.”  12mo.  Net,  $1.25 

MY  HOME  IN  THE  FIELD  OF  MERCY  By  Frances  Wilson  Hua,  d 

MY  HOME  IN  THE  FIELD  OF  HONOUR  By  Frances  Wilson  Hoard 

The  simple,  intimate,  classic  narrative  which  has  taken  rank  as  one  of 
the  few  distinguished  books  produced  since  the  outbreak  of  the  war. 

Illustrated.  Each  12mo.  Net,  $1.35 


GEORGE  H.  DORAN  COMPANY  Publishers  New  York 

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